Shot Through The Heart
by Calzona113
Summary: Story takes place during and after Season 6 E 23/24. Kind of rewritten the some of the shooting part and then the rest of the story is the recovery from it. I really suck at these summary things!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So I know I'm still writing another fic: A Hard Road Back (check it out :P) but had this idea too so I'm going to write them at the same time...hopefully! See how it goes. Hope you enjoy, please review, review, review! Love to hear from you guys._

_Characters and story lines aren't mine...wish they were!_

Arizona groaned as she woke up; yet again she woke up alone in an apartment that she hadn't lived in for the best part of a year and a half. As she slumped to the kitchen to make some coffee the events of that night played in her head.

_*FLASHBACK*_

_Arizona had been waiting for her gorgeous girlfriend to come home all day, she had found the perfect holiday for them: Fiji. She'd rang in a few favours with her cousin and low and behold a beautiful house on the middle of Fiji was there's for three weeks. Her thoughts wandered to Callie in a bikini. Yes this was a very good idea. _

_As soon as Callie walked through the door Arizona was reeling off all these details to her, but Callie didn't respond. Callie's thoughts were taken up by the phone number that refused to budge off of her hand, no matter how much soap had been used nor how much scrubbing occurred. Callie was never going to ring it, she didn't want the number on her hand, but as she looked down at it for the hundredth time, the same thought ended her head: Did this woman want a baby? Callie sat on the coffee table in front of Arizona and displayed the faded number on her hand so that she could see. _

'_What's that?' Arizona asked with a slight giggle, not expecting the answer she was about to get._

'_It's this cute girl's number, and I can't get if off...I'm not gonna use it, I don't want to use it...but I can't stop wondering if she wants a baby one day...' There was a long pause as both women tried to gage each other; Arizona had been completely taken aback by what Callie had said and for the first time, she really started to see how much her not wanting a baby was affecting her girlfriend; she saw the pain in her eyes and realised that this couldn't go on. _

'_I love you,' Callie breathed, tears welling up in her eyes. 'I love everything about you, but there's this one thing I need and I can't change it and I can't ask you to change...I don't want you to change...'_

'_And I can't be the one who keeps you from having a baby...' Arizona spoke for the first time, tears welling up in her own eyes. 'I love you too,' she said sadly. 'And we can keep going...'_

'_But I don't know where we're going...' Callie's voice broke as she saw where this conversation was inevitably going. _

'_Come here,' Arizona shut her laptop and patted the sofa next to her. As soon as Callie sat down Arizona's mouth was on hers, each of them trying to convey their undoubted love for each other even though they both knew what was about to happen. _

'_What are we going to do?' Callie whispered as she broke off the kiss and rested her forehead on Arizona's. _

'_Well, I'm gonna get my stuff together...'_

'_Noo...' Callie's tears began to fall thick and fast down her face as she pulled Arizona in to a hug. 'And what? We'll just...'_

'_We'll see each other at work...' Arizona's own voice broke now as she knew that seeing Callie at work and not being able to kiss her or touch her how she wanted would be so hard. _

'_I'm so sorry...I love you.' Callie said into Arizona's hair, the sheer emotion in her voice was too much for Arizona. _

'_Me too...me too...' was all she could manage. _

_Neither of them knew how long they sat there in each other's arms, both of them falling asleep. Eventually it was Arizona who woke first, with a gentle kiss to Callie's forehead she shuffled from underneath her head, quickly shoved most of her stuff into a couple of bags and stood back in the living room looking at her gorgeous girlfriend...no...__**ex**__-girlfriend, she corrected herself. She grabbed a post-it note, not wanting to leave without saying anything: 'I'll see you around at work. I love you. I'm sorry.' Leaving it on the table for Callie to find when she woke up Arizona left, with one last tear-filled glance at her sleeping love she closed the door on their relationship. _

_*END OF FLASHBACK*#_

Arizona shook her head as the tears began to fall once again, that night had been one of the hardest of her life. She'd turned her back on the love of her life because she couldn't change who she was...she wasn't the kind of person who had kids. She saw pain, hurt and loss everyday in her job; watched as children lost their parents...watched as parents lost their children; both situations as harrowing as each other and neither were something she wanted to go through herself let alone submit those she loved to.

It had been a month since they'd split up, a month of stolen glances across the hospital, a month of Callie trying to convince herself that she didn't need children to be happy...it had taken her a month to realise that she was just kidding herself. She wanted kids so much her heart ached when she thought about a future without a child in it and if Arizona wasn't prepared to bend for her, then she sure as hell wasn't going to give up her dream for Arizona.

They'd had one stolen kiss in the elevator; both of them overcome by the emotion of being in such a confined space at the same time as each other. Both knowing they were over, but both just wanting to tell the other how much they loved them. So a kiss happened, a passionate, heartfelt and painful kiss. Callie now swore to herself that wouldn't happen again; hell she couldn't keep breaking her heart like that. If she was totally honest with herself, Callie had now gotten to the stage where she felt anger at Arizona. Anger that she couldn't understand Callie's need for children, angry at herself for trying to change her dream for someone who obviously wasn't willing to do that in return. No. Today Callie vowed that that was it; her and Arizona for good and nothing would change that fact.

Would it?

_A/N: Slightly short as it's the first chapter...most of you can probably see what's coming next with my summary of the story...Reviews please folks!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Woooahhhh so thanks guys for the reviews! So many! So here's the next chapter...mostly stuff that you should recognise but my own story starts to kick in at the end. Hope you like.**_

It was a pretty normal day at work for both Arizona and Callie, neither of them had seen each other yet, but both had already given thoughts to the other, as was routine for both of them. Getting up alone was enough to bring memories flooding back for the both of them; it had been pretty much a year and a half that neither of them had woken up alone. Both were wrapped up in their own cases this morning, both of them trying to bury themselves in their work so that they could push thoughts of each other right to the back. Try, being the operative word there.

Arizona was thankful as she was paged to the ER, a young girl of about seven had to have an appendicitis; a very simple procedure but something to bury herself into at least. She caught sight of long raven locks and cursed herself as she instantly was thrown back into the thoughts she was so desperately trying to escape from.

'Hi.' Arizona said weakly, flashing a smile. Callie remained silent, she was angry. Very angry. Well that's what she was trying to convince herself anyway. She looked down at her chart; broken femur...not quite the big bone bashing case she'd hoped for but it would do for now. Arizona sighed and left Callie to it, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward than it apparently was. She left for the paeds floor to admit the appendicitis girl, Ruby.

Callie had accessed the broken femur in a matter of minutes; it wouldn't even need surgery, just a cast; she had been so desperate to cut. Operating meant immersing herself totally into the bones and the nerves and the cartilage and the ligaments: when she was operating Callie thought of nothing else but the job in hand and boy did she need that right now. Callie's thoughts were interrupted as her pager went off, she looked down, urgent page to the paeds ward. With a sigh, Callie begrudgingly stalked off to the sixth floor putting on her best angry face she pushed the doors open and slumped to the desk. Arizona was the other side, after a stolen glance from the both of them, they got back to their respective cases, checking the charts that they needed to.

One of the nurses, Rachel, was on the phone, Callie noticed that she looked alarmed at what she was hearing from the other end but shook her head as she continued to look down at the chart of her patient.

'We're on lock down.' Rachel's voice sounded through their thoughts.

'What?'

'Oh come on...'

'Well that's a joke right? A drill or something?' Arizona asked, even though she'd never experienced anything like this before. Before anyone could answer the peads reception was filled with the noise of everyone's pagers going off. All confirming the very fact that they were indeed on lock down.

'Ok...it's no joke,' Arizona put her head of department head firmly on and addressed the staff. 'Everyone. We're sealing the floor...I don't know why, and it doesn't matter why, but nobody goes in or out of those double doors. You check on your own patients and then check if there's any others in the cue. We don't have a lot of hands on deck and people...do not alarm the makers of the tiny humans...they will eat you alive.' Arizona finished on a lighter note, knowing that those tiny humans would detect any ounce of fear or uncertainty long before their parents caught on.

'I really thought that was a joke.' Arizona said, making eye contact with Callie for the first time that day.

'Sick joke.' Callie muttered.

'Excuse me?'

'Errr... nothing...'

'What? You can't be stuck on the same floor as me? That's a hardship for you?' Arizona could feel her anger building slightly at Callie; now was seriously not the time.

'Yes frankly. It is.' Callie said and with that she walked off to go and make herself useful with the kids.

Both Callie and Arizona racked their brains as to what could be happening to mean that they were on lockdown. It was no drill. What could have caused such a reaction? It was going to be awkward being trapped on the same floor but they would manage somehow, they had to for the kids. Callie checked on all her ortho-related kids before going and helping out with other kids; it broke her heart to see kids of just seven and younger with life-threatening diseases; she knew some of them wouldn't see Christmas. She could see Arizona's point of view; she supposed that that she saw this every single day, she saw kids die at the drop of a hat and more tragically, Arizona watched them die slowly and in a lot of pain. But she couldn't know that that would happen to their child. No. Callie wasn't going to let her win this fight.

It was getting too hectic in paeds, there were just too many kids for too few doctors and nurses. Everyone was talking at once, no one really knowing what was best for their patients.

'We have what 32 kids...4 doctors...and what...9 nurses...it's not enough!' Arizona's usual level head was slipping at the panic that was beginning to set in.

'Right...why don't you just put all the kids in the play room? I mean we don't have enough staff for the whole floor, so at least they'd all be in one place, one big room...we could keep an eye on all of the kids at once?' Callie looked straight at Arizona, expecting her to find something wrong with her idea and crush it.

'That's a brilliant idea! Stable one's can walk and we have wheelchairs so let's do it!' came Arizona's excitable response. 'Thanks!' She gestured to Callie.

Callie, still surprised that her idea was apparently a good one mumbled a 'whatever', grabbed her charts and went off to help move the kids.

Arizona stood open mouthed watching Callie go, god this was going to be a long day. She went to get some kids into the playroom, putting them in wheelchairs. She was moving one of her favourite patients first, little Chloe, she was a long-term so Arizona was more attached to her than the others.

'So Chloe, the bad news is less privacy, but the good news is your bunny can make friends with a very attractive bear from down the hall!' She knew the bunny was the key to Chloe staying calm.

'Thanks Dr. Robbins!' Arizona rounded the corner, almost running into the wheelchair that Callie was pushing.

'Woah...watch it!' Callie looked angrily at the blonde.

'Sorry, sorry, sorry.' Arizona said, even though she knew that it was as much Callie's fault as it was hers. As they walked side by side Arizona decided that as they were stuck here and Callie was obviously having a problem with being civil, she was sure as hell going to address the situation. 'I thought we were going to be friends?'

'You wanna talk about this now?' Callie replied, rolling her eyes towards the two kids they were transporting. 'We're on lockdown, moving kids, God knows what's happening and you wanna talk about this?'

'Well we're stuck here and we have to be together so yeah I wanna talk about this.'

'Ok fine, I tried being friends, tried rising above it, but it didn't work. So now I'm going to go the more traditional round of totally hating your guts!'

Arizona just sighed. Of all the things Callie could say she hadn't wanted it to be 'hate'. After depositing their children in the playroom Arizona ran after Callie: 'Woah, woah, woah, I don't deserve this, I have treated you with nothing but respect in fact and love...'

'No see now that's the thing, you think you have but you haven't!'

'You know I'm sure it feels great to act like I'm the bad guy here, but that's the biggest load of you-know-what that I've ever heard!'

'I have spent the last month trying to convince myself that I don't need kids. Giving myself lectures, saying it out loud to myself, to you, to Mark, turning myself inside out to want what you wanted, and then I stopped for a second and I thought did you ever try? To imagine what it would be like to change for me? Because I don't think you did, what you did was you dismissed my dream. My dream. Which says to me that you don't give a rat's ass if I'm happy. I never understood squat about who you are and now I do and I don't like it.' Callie was glad to have finally said those things out loud, in a way she felt all the stronger for it, telling Arizona how she felt and voicing the fact that she had tried to accept Arizona's way of life over her own.

'Oh really? Really? I'm supposed to change for you? Why? Because we're in love? I mean cause you fall in love all the time...men, women...' Arizona was now voicing one of her biggest fears with Callie, something they'd never really spoken about before; she had always been scared of losing Callie to a man, it was just a thought that never quite escaped her. For now though, her rant was interrupted as Dr. Sanchez came round the corner with the little api girl, Ruby. She was in obvious pain as she writhed around on the bed.

'I don't feel so good.' Came Ruby's small, panicked voice. Both Arizona and Callie moved towards the little girl, both eager to help ease her obvious pain. Both putting beside their differences for the sake of Ruby.

Arizona put her doctors head on fast, 'Her blood pressure's 90/60 and dropping, let's hang some more fluids!' Dr. Sanchez went and grabbed the portable ultra sound, even before it was done Arizona knew that this little girl needed surgery right away. 'Alright, Dr Sanchez you check her appendix, I will be right back!' Arizona ran off to get some equipment, Callie decided she wanted to hear the rest of Arizona's speech and ran after her.

'When are you going to forgive me for not being a good enough lesbian for you?' came Callie's question.

Arizona looked her up and down. 'When you do something to convince me that you're falling in love with _me_ and not with _being _in love. When you do something to convince me that I am different from George O'Malley, Erica Hahn, Mark Sloan...' And there it was, the one name that did genuinely worry Arizona. She had always hated the fact that Mark had seen her girlfriend naked, had had sex with her on several occasions and she knew that in different circumstances they could've very well been a couple, and that thought absolutely terrified the peads surgeon. '...or even the girl at the coffee cart! You have a huge heart and I love that about you but I don't trust you why would I?'

Callie just stared at Arizona as she stared back, brown eyes meeting blue. For the first time Arizona was being completely honest with Callie about Mark and for the first time Callie saw that Arizona had always been threatened by him. Why hadn't she seen it? Her thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Sanchez came round the corner announcing that Ruby's appendix had 'gone pow'. Even Callie knew that something had to be done right away.

'Are we seriously going to do this Arizona? I mean...can we?'

'Look I don't know Callie, I know it's not sanitary but...if we don't do this I don't need to tell you that she'll be dead within an hour...I don't know what's going on right now in this building, but I would say that the fact we haven't heard anything further shows that there is definitely something serious going on so I don't want to risk going down to the OR floor, not just for Ruby, but for the rest of us too. Now you're just going to have to trust me here Calliope...please?' Arizona was feeling drained and right now she didn't have the energy to fight with Callie anymore. At the end of the day she was the woman she loved with all her heart, nothing would change that.

The use of 'Calliope' snapped Callie out of the anger that she had been feeling all day. Just that one word was all it took and all the love came flooding back, she hated this, hated the fighting. 'OK, let's do this. Of course I trust you Arizona.' Callie smiled for the first time straight at Arizona and she could see that she instantly calmed, her breathing slowing slightly.

'Right, I'm going to go and grab some sterile tools from down the hall, will you give the table in there a scrub, make everything as sterile as you can and give Ruby the local...you'll have to inject it into her back but Dr. Sanchez can help you keep Ruby calm enough to do so.'

'You're going to do this with Ruby conscious?' Callie was slightly alarmed at this fact, any conscious surgery was risky, most of all on a small child who just wanted her parents.

'We have no way of hooking her up to oxygen up here...we've just got to work with what we've got I'm afraid.'

'Ok, I'll go set up, it'll be fine, you've done this a thousand times Arizona.' Callie added in some words of reassurance.

'I've never done it live though...'

'You'll be great Ari, you know that, you're a rock-star when it comes to surgery on tiny humans.' Arizona looked deep into Callie's eyes and for the first time since they'd broken up she saw their future with kids. Then she looked away, no, she couldn't...could she?

'I'll be right back.' Arizona turned to walk around. 'Calliope?'

Callie's heard skipped a beat. 'Yeah?'

'Thank you.' Arizona smiled as Callie nodded, turning back to go into the room that would now become an OR.

'Calliope?' Came Arizona's voice again. Callie popped her head back round the door frame and looked questioningly at Arizona.

'I love you.' Callie stared after Arizona as she flashed her dimples and turned round the corner before Callie even got a chance to say anything back. She'd tell her when she came back. All Callie's resolve had gone now; Arizona had gone from fighting back, to voicing her true concerns and feelings, even if only briefly, and now she had just caved in and laid all her emotions bare. For the first time since they'd broken up, Callie saw their future without kids. Did she?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard raised voices coming from the paeds ward somewhere. She went to the door, not wanting to leave Ruby alone, and listened in curiosity.

Curiosity soon turned to horror.

'Please...there are only children here...'

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Arizona had begged for her life.

Then three gunshots had sounded.

Each shot felt like it was going straight into Callie's heart.

_**A/N: Reviews? (:**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: So thanks so much for the reviews guys, really appreciate them all! From now on it's going to be my own stuff where Callie and Arizona are concerned...just consider that everything else to do with the shooting happened exactly the same as in the show. **_

_**Also, I have no real medical knowledge so if things don't sound right I apologise but I've done my best to research it a tad so that it's right.**_

_**Hope you enjoy :D**_

Callie stood glued to the spot for a good two minutes. She daren't walk out the door and round that corner, not because she was scared of getting hurt herself, but she was absolutely terrified of the scene she would find. Looking at Dr. Sanchez she told her to keep Ruby calm whilst Callie went and checked out the situation. Callie put her head to the door and listened, she heard the double doors that separated the peads ward from the rest of the hospital swing open and shut as someone left...or entered the ward. She listened harder and when she couldn't hear any footsteps decided that the person...she assumed the shooter, had left the ward. Callie panicked at this thought as she could hear no other movement; moving along the wall she listened with every step she took and as she got closer her breathing got heavier as she heard whimpering.

Callie stood still at the edge of the corner, took a couple of deep breaths and turned. The sight before her was something that she would never forget, something that she would see forever, every time she closed her eyes she would see this scene. Arizona was on the floor, on her left side, surrounded by a pool of blood. Callie stood frozen, her brown eyes wide in shock and horror. Fear pumped through her in abundance as the thought flashed into her head that Arizona was dead. She'd not told her she loved her back. Callie's thoughts were interrupted as Arizona's arm moved to her head and she let out a low whimper.

'Aa—aarizona?' Callie gasped her name out as her legs suddenly realised their job and walked forward to the love of her life. She bent down and brushed the blonde hair that was shielding Arizona's face.

Brown meant blue.

'Ca-aaa-llio-pe?' Callie realised she'd been holding her breath as she let out a huge sigh as she realised Arizona was alive.

Arizona was in so much pain; she had never felt pain like it before, well not physically anyway. Seeing Callie's face eased it momentarily but she knew that pain was soon going to take over every single thought she possessed. She replayed the scene in her head. Some man, who she'd never seen before standing, watching her as she rummaged through the shelves for the supplies she had needed, when she'd turned he'd asked her simply if she was a surgeon. When she answered yes he had raised gun. Even though she'd then gone to ramble about being a kid's surgeon and how she needed to save Ruby's life. He didn't seem to care as he fired his gun off three times.

Callie ran her hands over Arizona's body trying to find the shot wounds. Her scrubs were soaked so Callie lifted them up trying to find the source. Arizona coughed, spluttering up some blood with it which caused Callie to search more frantically. Eventually she discovered that there were three bullet wounds: one in her left thigh, one in her right shoulder and the last one in her chest. Callie accessed the situation and knew that the chest wound would be the one that had done the most damage. She grabbed some gauze and bandages from the supply shelves and wrapped Arizona's thigh and shoulder before applying as much pressure as she could on her chest.

'DR. SANCHEZ! HEAR NOW!' Sanchez came running round the corner and looked in horror at the scene before her. 'Look, I know Ruby needs us too but right now I'm running out of ideas here...go grab some nurses from the play room; send a couple to me and use a couple yourself to calm Ruby down as best as you can. I'm gonna ring the police and try and get some help up here...GO!' Sanchez ran off and within seconds two nurses came round the corner, Rachel, who had been on the phone earlier and another nurse who Callie knew as Emma. Both of them mirrored Sanchez's reaction but ran forward grabbing more gauze and applying in to the wounds as Callie showed them where they were.

Callie was trying to stay calm for Arizona's sake, trying to keep her surgeon head firmly on but all she wanted to do was cry. She couldn't die. Callie made a silent prayer to God to keep her alive long enough for them to get her to an OR; she needed her faith to give reward now more than ever. She held Arizona's hand as she tried to keep her talking as Rachel and Emma managed to slow the bleeding down considerably.

'Arizona, come on please just keep your eyes open a little longer for me...' Callie pleaded with her love, hoping that her voice was enough to keep her from falling asleep forever. 'Rachel...ring the police...see if we can get some help...we need surgeons...we need Teddy...and Owen Hunt...fuck it just get anyone you can!' Rachel ran off to the reception.

'Callie.' Arizona could just about talk...it was barely a whisper but Callie bent towards her so she could hear what she was saying. 'I'm sorry.'

'No...no Arizona don't say that...it's going to be fine, Rachel's gone to ring for help...Teddy's going to come up here and sort your chest out and Owen...well he'll be Owen...' Callie's tears fell thick and fast as she struggled to form sentences.

'Don't cry babe...please...it's going to be ok...I love you...and you'll be fine...I promise...'

'NO! Arizona stop...look I love you too...I love you, I love you, I love you...please just hold on...' Callie's words lifted Arizona momentarily but she knew that she didn't have long before the pain and her injuries got the better of her. She was struggling to catch her breath and knew that one of the bullets had probably punctured a lung, so a pneumothorax was forming, eventually there would be so much air in her chest that she wouldn't be able to breathe.

'Callie...you need to put a chest tube...pneumothorax...' Callie gasped as she berated herself for not thinking of that herself. Before she could ask Emma was by her side with a tube and a scalpel.

'W-w-wait...Arizona I've never done one of these before! I c-ccan't do this!' Callie was an orthopaedic surgery the last time she had put in a test tube was in med school and now she had to do it on the woman she loved?

'Calliope...please...I trust you...I love you...and I'm sorry for everything...I shouldn't have given up on us like I did...kids...ten...please...' Arizona's hand slumped to the floor as her head fell to the side.

'NO! Arizona...ARIZONA! No you aren't going to die on me! I can't live without you...I can't live without you...I can live without kids...fuck kids...as long as I've got you...Emma give me the fucking scalpel!' Emma put the scalpel in Callie's shaking hand, the tears dripping down both of their faces.

Callie ran her fingers over Arizona's ribs...one...two...three...four...five...the fifth inter-costal space. Callie drew in a breath and made a small incision before grabbing the tube and stuffing it in. She felt air release so she knew that she had it in the right place but still Arizona's chest didn't move.

'Right we've got tube her...Emma get a tube...a bag...and the defibrillators...NOW!' Callie began CPR, pumping her chest ten times before breathing into her mouth. Emma came running back, with Rachel in tow. Rachel took over CPR whilst Callie moved round to Arizona's head and shoved a tube down her throat. Emma attached the bag and began to breathe for Arizona whilst Callie grabbed the paddles.

'Charge to 270...CLEAR!' Callie shocked Arizona's body. Nothing.

'Charge again! CLEAR!' Nothing.

'CHARGE TO 360...CLEAR!' Nothing.

'AGAIN!' The monitor Rachel had attached let out a small series of bleeps to indicate that Arizona's heart had started up again. Callie sank back onto her heels as Arizona spluttered against the tube.

'Babe...Babe...look at me...' Callie rose above Arizona so that she could look her straight in the eyes. 'Don't resist the tube...I want to leave it in to help you breath ok...with one lung and the blood you've lost you won't manage to do it all by yourself for long.' Callie gave a small smile whilst Arizona grabbed Callie's hand, squeezing to show that she understood.

'Dr. Torres?' Rachel hated to interrupt the intimate moment that the two surgeons were having but she needed to tell them what the police had said.

'Rachel...I think this whole situation at least warrants you to call me Callie.' They exchanged smiles.

'Um...ok...Callie... I spoke to the police, they said that they're clearing the hospital floor by floor, as we're pretty much at the top we're last to go...even though I explained the situation they said that they had to do it their way otherwise they might miss the shooter. I asked them where Teddy or Owen were and they said that they were still in the building somewhere.'

'So they won't come and get us even though Arizona is on fucking deaths door?' Callie instantly regretted the words she had said as tears fell down Arizona's cheeks. 'Shhh shhhh, I'm sorry sweetheart...I shouldn't have said that...' Arizona squeezed her hand again indicating that it was ok. Arizona hated not being able to talk, she wanted to reassure Callie, she wanted to tell her that it was ok and tell her how much she loved her rather than have to express it through my eyes and hand grips.

'Right I'm going to ring Teddy...' Callie waited as the dialling tone sounded, she just prayed that Teddy was still somewhere in the building.

'Hello?' came the muffled voice.

'Teddy? Please tell me you're still in the building?'

'Callie? Yeah I am...I'm just finishing up with a patient with Owen...we're taking him outside to be transported to press why?'

'I need you to come up to paeds...please...Arizona...she's been shot...she's got a pneu...'

'Give me five minutes Callie.' Teddy put the phone down and stood in shock. Arizona, her best friend, had been shot. 'Owen can you take him out on your own?'

'Yeah sure thing...why?'

'Arizona's been shot...I need to go and help...' Teddy turned to walk away.

'Ted! Be careful yeah?'

'You can count on it.' Teddy left Owen and made her way to the stairs. Using all her military training she travelled silently and quickly, checking round every corner and through every door before she went through. When she reached the double doors of paeds she forgot all resolve and bounded through, her feet coming to a standstill as she saw the scene before her. Arizona was laid on the floor, a tube and bag taking over her face, Callie had her in her arms, both of them were covered in Arizona's blood. Two nurses were there also, Teddy didn't recognise them but as paeds nurses she knew that they would be feeling this too as Arizona was a fabulous head of department.

'Callie...talk to me.' Teddy tried to put aside the fact that it was Arizona lying there and tried to think like it was just any patient but as her eyes found Arizona's that became impossible. This was her best friend here.

'Teddy...thank God. She's been shot in three places...her thigh, her shoulder and in her chest. The one in the chest punctured her lung, she's got a pneumothorax...I put the chest tube in but she didn't come round straight away, we had to bag her and in took four shocks to get her back so I've left the tube in to help her out with the breathing. The bleedings under control for now, but as you can see she's lost a lot of blood Teds.' Callie finished as tears began to fall slightly.

'Right ok...shift round a bit Callie and let me have a feel and a look...' Callie shifted so that her legs were now underneath Arizona's head, both of their eyes fixed on each other. Arizona winced as Teddy felt around the tube Callie had put in. 'Sorry sweetheart...right...looks like you did a good job with the tube Cal but we've got to get her to an OR asap. This isn't just a straight pneumothorax...it looks like the bullet not only punctured her lung, but also, because of the angle that it entered her body, it nicked her heart as well, which is why she's having so much trouble breathing even though you put this tube in beautifully...' Teddy smiled, trying to lighten the situation somewhat. 'Now it's not dangerous...at the minute, but you have to understand that as blood is being pumped around Arizona's body and back to her heart...'

'...it's leaking straight out her heart...' Callie finished for Teddy.

'Yeah exactly. Because the hole is small she'll last a bit longer but eventually blood will stop reaching her extremities which obviously includes her brain...we need to get her into an OR within the next hour so I can do a pericardial repair...' Teddy finished her diagnosis looking from Arizona to Callie and back again.

Arizona felt more fear fill her body as she listened to Teddy. She knew about the pneumothorax...she had diagnosed herself with that one...but the bullet had hit her heart too? This really was not good. Arizona gripped onto Callie's hand tight as she saw her looking so worried and hurt by Teddy's words. At the tightening Callie looked down to Arizona and as their eyes met Callie instantly calmed her expression knowing that her panicking was not going to help in the slightest.

'Right...Rachel was it?' The nurse nodded. 'Good, Rachel, go and find a gurney so we can move Arizona.' Rachel ran off to find a free bed.

Arizona began to shake her head and writhe as she caught up with what was going on. What were they thinking? They wanted to move her even though there was some mad man on the loose who obviously had a particular vendetta against surgeons and who'd shot Arizona, not once, but three times? No. She wasn't having any of it. Callie knew as soon as Arizona started writhing what she was protesting to; I mean who wouldn't?

'Shhh...Zona please stop writhing around, you'll only be doing yourself some damage. I know...I know...but we've got to get you to the OR...you won't...l..' Callie couldn't bring herself to say the word 'live', she couldn't let the thought into her head that Arizona might not survive. Arizona squeezed Callie's hand again, she hated not being able to talk. All fight in her faded as she started to feel queasy, the blood loss was taking its toll and if they didn't go now Arizona wouldn't make it down to the fifth floor let alone the OR floor.

Rachel came screeching round the corner with a gurney. Callie lifted Arizona on to it with ease, making her comfortable whilst never letting go of her hand. Before they left the ward Arizona remembered why she had been getting supplies in the first place. Not knowing how to communicate this thought she squeezed Callie's hand again and waved her other hand off in the direction of Ruby's room. Callie understood straight away and her mind went into overdrive.

'Teddy who's down on the OR floor?'

'Um, Owen left with our patient...as far as I know there's the OR team we were using so all the nurses and Avery's in there too...that was when I left, they may have collected more folks by now or they might have all left...I really, really don't know Cal...but between the four of us we can get sort Arizona out just fine...'

'No..you don't understand Teds...there's this girl in that room, Ruby, she's got an appendicitis, she needs surgery too...urgently...that was why Arizona was out here getting supplies in the first place. We have to take her with us.' Callie decided that fact almost immediately and wasn't going to be swayed on it.

'Cal, look we haven't got time to mess around here...'

'Teddy _please_. This situation is just so...fucked up...and I don't really know how to deal with it but seriously this girl is coming with us...I can't let her die and I can't let Arizona die...between me, you, Rachel, Emma and Dr. Sanchez, we're sorted, we can get them down there and just pray on our way that there are other people still down there to help with both surgeries when we get there.' Callie finished and the look she gave Teddy told her not to argue with her at all.

So that's how it went. Callie walked next to Arizona's bed which Teddy and Rachel were pushing, her hand firmly wrapped around Zona's, then Emma and Sanchez followed pushing little Ruby. They had ended up sedating Ruby slightly as she was in so much pain and making a lot of noise, obviously they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

The going was painfully slow; every time they reached a corner or a door, Teddy would leap forwards and check the way was clear. When they made it to the elevator they all breathed a slight sigh of relief as Teddy pushed the button that would take them to the OR floor.

Callie turned to Arizona and kissed her lightly on the forehead, her eyes meeting Arizona's and locking on. 'I love you so much.' Arizona smiled as best as she could and nodded. Callie smiled, knowing that she was saying the she loved her too. As the elevator dinged and signalled they had arrived at the OR floor everyone readied to move once again.

What happened next occurred in such a blur that if any of them had blinked, they would've missed it. As they wheeled towards the theatres there was a lot of commotion coming from within as they heard shouting and beeping. This was odd as Teddy had thought it would be empty. Their thoughts were interrupted as Arizona's vitals dropped through the floor, her eyes rolled back into her head and she flat-lined.

'NO! NO! Not again...ARIZONA YOU STAY WITH ME YOU HEAR!' Callie's voice ran clear and true through the silent halls. She jumped up onto the bed and began CPR straight away. 'TEDDY GET US IN THAT FUCKING OR NOW!'

_**A/N: So I know I'm updating quite quickly with this story but your reviews are fabulous and I love you all for it! Also I really like this story, more than my other one at least so hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it! Reveiiiwwwwww!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: So here we go again, thanks again folks for all the reviews, they really make the writing more rewarding and stuff and love to hear your ideas on how you think the story should go...as I have no idea where this story is going to end up I might just take your advice ;) **_

'What the HELL are you guys still doing in here?'

Owen Hunt's voice rang through the OR corridor. He had heard shouting from the corridor and had come to investigate, after what he'd just been through in the OR with some of his colleagues; he didn't want anyone else getting hurt. However when he entered the corridor and took in the sight before him, he realised that that had already happened. Arizona's lifeless body was stretched out on a gurney, Callie straddled her as she administered CPR, both of them and Teddy were covered in blood and he could see a small child also on a gurney with two more nurses and Dr. Sanchez.

'OWEN! GET. US. IN. THE. OR. NOW.' Callie shouted out each word as she pumped Arizona's chest.

'Owen what happened to you?' Teddy's voice rang clear now as she noticed that he had his arm in a sling.

'Um...long story, one for later, not now. Right get Arizona into OR 2, OR1's occupied at the minute but I can pull a couple of surgeons from there to help you. Yang's busy saving Derek's life...'

'What?'

'Derek..is he ok?

'Yeah he's going to be fine, Christina has...well she's had a brilliant teacher,' he flashed a smile at Teddy. 'Look get in there and set up, I'll send over Kepner to give you a hand.' Teddy wheeled the gurney forwards straight away with Callie still on top pumping away. 'Right Sanchez you get into three I'll send Avery in...and he'll have to take lead until me or Teddy are free to come give you a hand.' With that Owen ran into the OR that he had been in, shouting orders out to Avery to get next door and take lead on an api whilst everyone else should stay, make sure Derek is stable and then come and help in the api or with Dr. Robbins. Everyone one clambered to get more details, but Owen knew time was short, especially for Arizona, so he told them to just get on with it. Giving one last look to Christina, he crossed the corridor into OR 2 knowing that his expertise would be needed there the most.

'CHARGE A-FUCKING-GAIN!' Callie's voice rang through the otherwise eerie silence. Sweat was dripping off of Callie's forehead and her body felt physically exhausted from pumping Arizona's chest for God knew how long, but from somewhere she found the strength to continue. She could feel the other people around her start to give up as Teddy hung her head and let tears slip down her cheeks.

'NO. Teddy you are not giving up on her...' Callie's words seemed to bring Teddy from the trance she hadn't realised she was in and she ran forward laying one swinging thump onto Arizona's chest. Every pair of eyes in the OR stared towards the monitors at the far end of the bed and all eyes were filled with relief as a steady beep started up indicating that Arizona's heart was beating of it's own accord. It was very weak, but it was there.

Callie almost slumped where she was with the sheer exhaustion of the whole situation, not just physically, but emotionally too. She'd started the day doing everything she could to stay away from Arizona, doing everything she could to hate her...and now? Now she was doing everything she could to save her life, doing everything she could to bring back the woman she loved with all her heart.

'Callie! Get off the table so we can set her up!' Callie was brought from her thoughts by Teddy who had already thrown on a surgical gown and briefly scrubbed knowing that time was of the essence. Callie jumped off of the bed and made to scrub in. 'Callie, please...wait outside?' Teddy knew that this was going to create an argument but she simply couldn't have Callie in the room.

'Um...NO! Teddy you can't expect me to sit outside and wait...'

'No...Callie, you have to! I'm struggling here with the fact that I'm operating on my best friend because she's been shot three times...having you here...it's just too much. I don't want to slip up on this one Callie and having you here...it'll be too much...I need to act like this is _any_ patient on this table, not my best friend, and certainly not the woman you love. Now please Callie, get out of my OR.'

Callie stood completely still for a minute, looking straight into Teddy's eyes; seeing fear, love, passion, concern, but most importantly, determination in them; determination to save Arizona's life. Callie nodded and turned to Arizona's very lifeless body. Stroking a loose strand of her blonde hair from her face, Callie kissed her forehead gently, 'Come back to me please. I love you.' With those whispered words she moved away and headed for the door. 'Keep me updated.' She called to the room, when heads nodded she left into the scrub room. From there Callie didn't quite know where to go; going anywhere else in the hospital would be stupid but she knew that she couldn't stay in that scrub room and watch, she needed to get out.

Crossing the corridor after checking to see if the coast was clear, Callie burst into OR 1. She took in the scene in a second as she saw Derek on the operating table, Yang was just closing up and Meredith was stood at Derek's head stroking his hair. 'He ok?' Callie just about choked out the words.

'Callie! What happened to you?' Meredith asked the obvious question after taking in Callie's appearance, the fact that she was covered in blood pretty much from head to toe would cause alarm on its own without knowing that there was a shooter loose in the hospital.

'Arizona got shot. She's across in OR 2 now, Teddy, Owen and April are trying to do what they can, she's got a pneumothorax but that's fine, one of the bullets hit her heart as well and that's the problem...' Callie finished, not really knowing what else to say, not wanting to talk about the matter anymore as it was driving her mad not knowing how events were unfolding across the hall. 'Is Derek going to be ok?'

'Yeah, Christina's just finished actually.' Meredith offered a small smile; the stress of the day obviously etched across her face; the same stress that was etched across everyone's face.

'There, all done.' Christina stepped away from the table and sank to her knees immediately. 'We'll have to keep him in here and on the ventilator until we get the all clear to move.' Callie sank onto the floor next to Christina, Meredith doing the same but leaving a hand gripping onto Derek's.

'This is shit.' Callie broke the silence.

'Yup.' Christina agreed with a shake of her head. The three of them descended into silence again, each of them giving thought to their loved ones. It was ironic that the three of them sat there had all bared witness to the individual they loved the most getting shot that day. Christina thought of Owen; he had come back for her, she had doubted his love and commitment, but he had come back for her, she smiled at that thought. Meredith gave thought to Derek laid on the table behind her; seeing his body flung by the force of the shot would live with her forever, along with the fact that she had lost their unborn child. Yes, this had been a shit day. Finally there was Callie, her thoughts firmly on the blonde across the hall. Callie replayed the day's events in her head; fighting with Arizona, questioning her love and commitment, then those three gunshots. Callie shook her head to remove the echoing shots now in her head. She closed her eyes and, not for the first time that day, she prayed.

Her silent prayer was interrupted as the OR door flung open. Everyone, with vivid memories of the day, jumped six foot in the air, their three hearts each skipping a fair few beats. The ginger hair that they noticed first instantly set them at ease.

'Christina, get across the hall now! The repair's proving tricky and I'm useless in there and April...well she's not up to your standard...' Christina made to resist; she'd had more than enough drama for one day, saving Derek's life with Meredith going all 'shoot me, shoot me' on her ass was bad enough now she was needed to save another person's life. But there lay the problem; it was not just another person, it was another one of the _family_. Heck she'd lived with blondie for near-on-a-year! Any thought Christina had of refusing vanished as soon as she caught Callie's eye. She saw so much fear and desperation that she jumped up without another thought and ran across the corridor with Owen behind her.

Callie made to talk to Owen but he was gone as fast as he had arrived. Callie sat back down in a humph, shifting so that she was sat next to Meredith. They had never been that close, Callie and Meredith, they'd worked together, and sometimes they'd had conversations of a deeper nature, but if either of them had picked someone to be sat with at a moment like this, they wouldn't have been at the top of either's list.

'She'll be ok.' Meredith said reaching her other arm up and around Callie's shoulders. No matter the strength of friendship between them, this situation was one that brought people together, you might say. Even though Callie felt like all the tears she possessed for a lifetime had left her eyes during the day, some more still found their way to her cheeks as she sobbed into Meredith's shoulder just praying that Teddy and Christina could save the woman that she would give the world for.

'Suction...give me more Suction in here Keppner for fuck's sake...' Teddy's normal cool head in an operating theatre was drastically beginning to fall. This was Arizona's heart she was stitching into and no matter how far she tried to push that thought away she just simply couldn't. The tear in the heart was only increasing in size, more and more blood pouring out into Arizona's chest cavity. All Teddy needed was one stitch, just one stitch would make this job a whole lot easier, one stitch and she could place the pericardial patch and a few more stitches, she just needed the first stitch to stem the bleeding that was blocking her view.

'Give me the suction April!' Yang pushed April to the side and grabbed the suction tube, working with hands that most attendings would give money for. All of a sudden it was as if someone had turned the tap off for Teddy and she made the initial stitch that she had been trying to do for the past ten minutes. With this new found clarity Teddy felt a new air of determination dawn upon her as she transferred the patch and secured it. Everyone watched with baited breath as Teddy stepped back; now it was Arizona's fight, her fight to live or her surrender to death.

'Take her off bypass.'

Watching and waiting was killing all of them in that room; they'd done all they could and now they just had to stand and watch for the one sign of life that would cause them all to breathe easier.

Teddy glanced nervously at the clock, it had been two minutes, at three it would be looking risky, at four dire, at five...well that didn't bear thinking about. Teddy could feel the tears finding their way out of her eyes and down into her mask. She felt Owen's hand on her shoulder as she shook her head, refusing to believe that Arizona would give up on life, refusing to believe that she'd give up on her Calliope.

Ba-bum.

Ba-bum.

Ba-bum.

Teddy almost fell to her knees with the emotion she felt after seeing and hearing that amazing sound as Arizona's heart began to beat soundly for itself. She found herself hugging Owen, Christina, April, the anaesthetist whom she didn't even recognise; she was just so, so happy. With a new found spring in her surgical hands Teddy closed up Arizona's chest wall and her pale skin and declared that part of the operation over. Under Owen's instruction and with the occasional aid of his one hand, Christina and Teddy proceeded to remove both of the other bullets, one in Arizona's shoulder and the other in her thigh. Neither required much; they were glad to find that miraculously no nerves had been damaged by either bullet, so ten stitches later Teddy gladly pronounced the operation over as wound gauze was placed over all three stitch sites.

'We'll have to stay in here until we know the shooter's been caught guys.' Owen's voice brought reason to the otherwise merry mood in the room. 'I'm going to go and see how Avery and Sanchez are getting on, they should be finished now. Well done you two,' he smiled at both Christina and Teddy before making to leave the room. 'Oh, and someone should go and tell Callie.' Owen left the room.

'Can you keep an eye on Arizona if I go and tell Callie?' Teddy asked Christina, wanting to tell Callie the good news, it had been a hard day and she wanted to see a brief glimmer of happiness amongst all the crap. Christina merely nodded and sat on a stool, resting her head on Arizona's bed. Teddy left the room leaving Christina to her thoughts; she barely noticed the anaesthetist sat in the corner as she turned to look at Arizona, taking her hand in hers.

'You'd best wake up Blondie, too many people have died...and nearly died today...Callie's been a mess without you and don't you let her tell you any different...I've never seen love quite like that between you two...who'd have thought that the resident lesbian couple would be the couple that the rest of us aspired to be like hey?' Christina gave a small laugh as she shook her head. 'I can't believe I'm talking to you...you can't even hear me for Christ's sake! God this shit has made me go soft...'

Callie and Meredith had remained in their huddled state since Christina and Owen had left the room. Both letting silent tears fall as they took stock and let the full weight of the day wash over them. They didn't really know how long they had been sat there before Teddy came bustling in through the door. Callie instantly shot up to her feet scanning Teddy's every feature to try and work out what had happened. Eventually Teddy broke into a full-on smile and just nodded, the tears over-flowing now for the both of them as they engulfed each other in a bone-crunching hug.

Quickly breaking up, Callie gave no thought to the fact that there was probably still a shooter loose in the hospital and ran across to the other OR. Christina was sat with her hand on Arizona's which took Callie back slightly but this wasn't the time to dwell on teasing the usually hard Christina Yang; instead she ran to the other side of the table and grabbed Arizona's free hand, stroking her hair with the other, her eyes darting over every inch of the pale body that still seemed so lifeless.

'I'm right here baby, you're ok now.' Callie pulled up one of the OR stools and sat continuously gripping Arizona's hand whilst stroking her hair. Christina stayed where she was, too exhausted to put the effort in to move whilst also feeling vulnerable, though she wouldn't admit it, this whole thing had been just too terrifying to put into words.

The door went, with them all jumping again, all of them realising how long this was going to take to get over. 'Sorry,' Owen apologised when he saw the horror on all their faces. 'They've finished the api, Ruby's coming round as we speak.' Callie smiled, that was a nice piece of news to get amongst the horror of the day. She had been afraid that the delay with Arizona would have meant that Ruby would have come off the worse, but it looked like all was well.

'Someone should go back and be with Meredith.' Owen said as he realised who was in the room.

'I'll go.' April immediately chimed up, she and Owen shared a knowing glance that went unnoticed by everyone else in the room.

'How long will we have to stay here?' Christina asked once April had left.

'I'm not sure. We'll have to wait for the SWAT team to clear the floor, they'll come and get us; they know we're here.' Owen replied, moving to rest his hands on Christina's shoulders.

'But how long will that take?' Callie chimed in now.

'I really don't know Callie...it depends on...where he is I suppose...what he's doing...'

'Why did he do this?' Callie asked, as they weren't going anywhere she figured now was as good a time as any to talk about it. 'I mean why? It's a hospital for fucks sake...'

'His wife died.' Christina said in a dead pan voice. Callie and Teddy looked at her, not knowing why Gary Clark had decided to wreak havoc on Seattle Grace Mercy West but they sure as hell wanted to.

'What? What excuse is that?' Callie asked, feeling the anger rising in her voice.

'I don't know the full details of his wife...all I know is that he blamed Derek for it...and Richard I think too...' Christina gave all the information she had. 'Do you know if anyone else got hurt?' Christina now asked the one question that was burning in all of them.

'I don't know.' Callie replied. 'We didn't see anyone as we were coming down...'

'Reed's dead and that's all I know.' Christina said.

'Reed?' Callie felt bad for not recognising the name.

'You know...the second year from Mercy West...short red hair...screwed Mark and offered Teddy a threesome when she caught her in his bed?' Christina didn't let the severity of the situation change her dark and twisty ways. Teddy let out a small humph at the memory but ceased to say anything else.

'Yeah I know who you mean now...you see her...you know?' Callie probed further.

'Nope, April told me. It was Kepner that alerted this whole situation, she found Reed and went and told Derek...' Christina didn't finish her sentence as she thought to the operation she had just performed on Derek; re-tracing her steps in her mind, thinking if she could have made even the slightest of mistakes.

Callie let her own thoughts wander as she concentrated on drawing circles on the back of Arizona's hand. She knew that she wasn't out of the woods yet; Teddy and Yang had done an amazing job bringing her back, but now she had to wake up. With the loss of blood and with the fact that Arizona's heart had stopped several times for lengthy periods meant that the risk of brain damage was severe. Callie knew that Arizona might not ever wake up, she might wake up paralysed or not even knowing her own name and that scared the crap out of her. But, at the end of the day, Arizona's heart was firmly beating in her chest of its own accord. Yes there would have to be a lot of talking between Arizona and Callie when she woke up and felt better; yes they had a long way to go and yes Callie was scared as hell at what the outcome would be; but for now, the fact that Arizona was alive was enough for Callie.

Christina once again broke the silence as only she could, 'God I need a drink.'

_**A/N: Okkkk so what did you think? Reviews please folks :D **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: So thank youuuuu so much for all the reviews of the last chapter, they all really do make me smile :D sorry it's been a while updating, I've been working a lot and yesterday spent the day having x-rays on my wrist (I fell over, no hint of alcohol in my system, I'm just that clumsy) anyway, no broken bones but still is mega sore so typing has become a little slower! Anyway enough about me, that's not what you wanna read!**_

They had been sat in the OR's for a good hour and everyone was getting restless wondering when they would be taken to safety and removed from this crap situation.

'How long has it been now?' Christina broke the silence that had filled the room once more.

'Five minutes more than the last time you asked.' Teddy stated.

'Do you think they've forgotten about us?' Callie made the sentence sound jokey but it was a genuine concern that they all felt.

'They'll have to make sure he's gone...or dealt with Callie...they'll come don't worry.' Owen tried to reassure all of his friends, panicking wasn't an option right now.

The friends all descended into silence again, each lost in their own thoughts. Arizona lay on the gurney, hooked up to a temporary ventilator her vitals were stable which was the best thing they could ask for. Across the hall Derek was in the same state with Meredith and April next to his bedside and Ruby was apparently awake but sedated to keep her steady and stable in light of the situation.

'So does this mean you and blondie are back on?' Christina nodded towards Callie's hand that was tightly wrapped around Arizona's.

'Christina...' Owen gave slight warning in his voice.

'Oh come on! We're sat here waiting for the bloody SWAT team, wondering if the mad-gun-happy bloke is still running around somewhere; we have to talk about _something_ to pass the time!'

Callie let out a small chuckle. 'It's ok Owen, may as well talk about it now...I dunno Christina...there's a lot of talking...'

'Talking?' Christina interrupted Callie. 'Talking? We've all nearly frigging _died_ and your worried about _talking_?' She smiled so that Callie knew she was half messing with her at least.

'Ha...oh Christina you do have a way with words even in the most crappest of situations!'

'I know right. But seriously Cal, come on, you've been mopey and miserable and a pain in the ass without her!'

'Thanks! But I know...I love her and it's shit that this has made me realise quite how much...but at least I have and I'm going to fight to prove her just that.'

'You'd best do, she's alright for blonde you know.' Callie smiled knowing that this was Christina's way of saying that she held Arizona close to her, as a friend, none the less.

Their conversation was interrupted as they heard footsteps in the corridor. Each set of eyes met with fear fully shown. Owen put his finger to his lips to signal quiet whilst he pressed his ear up to the door. He seemed to listen for hours before a smile spread upon his face as he recognised the familiar sound of stealth operations being carried out along the corridor. He gently opened the door, not wanting to alarm the SWAT team and walked out with his hands in the air to signal that he was not the shooter.

Before any of the SWAT team could take any action or say anything Richard Webber promptly pushed past them and their guns and embraced Owen in a hug.

'How is everyone? Are you ok? Your arm? I heard about Derek...Arizona? Where is everyone?' Owen took in the Chief and noted that he looked like he had aged at least ten years since he had seen him last night. 'It's good to see you Owen.' The Chief finished with a relieved smile.

'It's good to see you too Richard...' Before Owen could continue Christina came out and joined them in the corridor.

'Hey, as good as it is to have a catch up session here we have three patients here who need to get over to Seattle Pres ASAP...'

Richard suddenly came to his sense and walked past them into the OR Yang had just exited. Taking in the scene before him he saw Arizona on the gurney hooked up to a ventilator; Torres was sat next to her; Altman was hovering around the machines and Burman, the anaesthetist was positioned in the corner.

'Oh...it's good to see you all...' Richard said meekly as his eyes glazed over his head of paediatrics who looked more than a little worse for wear.

'Is he...Is...the shooter?' Teddy stumbled over her words as she asked the question that everyone else wanted to know the answer to.

'The shooter, Gary Clark was his name, he's dead.'

'What the SWAT killed him?' Callie chimed in now.

'No.' The Chief shook his head. 'He shot himself.' Eerie silence filled the room once again as everyone let the Cheif's words wash over them.

'Why?' Came the question from more than one mouth.

'His wife was at our hospital a couple of months ago, she didn't come out of the operation very well and the decision was made to turn off the life support...He wanted revenge...wanted to prove to his wife that he was a man...'

'Pfft.' Christina scoffed. Everyone else remained silent, none of them really knowing what to say.

'Let's get you guys out of here.' The leader of the SWAT team stepped forwards. Everyone agreed, all of them wanting to be out of there as quick as was possible.

All three gurneys were wheeled out of the OR's in turn, as all the surgeons walked in time with them they took in their surroundings as they went. Callie noticed Bailey off in the distance talking to a police officer; the sight caused her to smile simply because she was glad that Miranda was alive. As soon as Bailey caught site of the procession coming from the hospital to the awaiting ambulances she shrugged the officer off and rushed over embracing Callie, Meredith and Teddy in a hug.

'Bailey, are you ok?' Meredith asked, this sign of affection from 'the Nazi' was unheard of.

'I'm fine. I'm just glad to see you all ok and...alive...' she finished weekly. Everyone could see in her eyes that she'd obviously seen some horrific things, as they all had, but now was certainly not the time to swap those stories; in truth, would there ever be a time for that?

Arizona was loaded into a gurney and Callie climbed in next to her, never loosening her grip on her hand. As the ambulance journey went by Callie couldn't help but think about the what ifs. What if Arizona died? What if she never woke up? What if she had brain damage? Callie shuddered at all three of those questions as she considered all the possible answers. The thought of Arizona waking up and being anything other than ok was unbearable for Callie.

At Seattle Pres the doctors there checked over Arizona before Teddy walked in and instantly started to call the shots, issuing out orders and telling people what treatments and care were needed. She gave a wink to Callie as she walked off to fill in some charts for Arizona and check on Derek as well. Callie smiled, she knew that Teddy was one of the best and she was glad that Arizona had someone like her watching over, not just physically, but also as her best friend.

Callie settled herself into her seat; she wasn't planning on leaving the room, aside from food and loo breaks, until she saw Arizona's beautiful blue eyes once more. Her thoughts were interrupted as there was a gentle knock at the door. Callie shot her head up and broke contact with Arizona's hand briefly to engulf Mark Sloan in a huge hug. She had been told he was alive and ok but seeing it for herself was what she really needed. After a hug session Callie settled herself back in the seat and repositioned her hand back on her loves. Mark sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed letting out a huge sigh.

'How is she?' Mark asked, casting a concerned glance to Arizona and then back to his best friend.

'She's...as good as can be expected.' Callie gave the best answer she could. 'Teddy did an amazing job but it's up to her now, she's got to fight to wake up now.' Callie paused for a second as she took in her best friend; he looked exhausted and like he had aged a good few years, much like everyone did. 'How's...other people?' Callie didn't know where Mark had been during the shooting or who he'd seen.

'I don't know about everyone but I was with Alex and Lexie through the whole thing. Alex got shot...' Mark ignored Callie's gasp as he continued. 'He's fine now, managed to stop the bleeding and shove in a chest tube...he'll be fine...Lexie is ok...running round declaring her love for Karev...but she's ok. Other than that I didn't really see anyone...I saw Sandra get shot...' Callie gave thought for a minute to Sandra, a nurse that she had worked with on many occasions, she hadn't deserved this. Mark continued; 'I've been to see Derek, he's ok, looks like Yang saved his life...other than that I heard that that Percy guy got killed...Bailey was with him...she came close to the shooter I think...but that's all I know...' They both sat in silence thinking of the colleagues that lost their lives.

'Did you see him Mark?' Callie asked.

'Who?'

'The shooter? I mean, did you know him? Richard said his wife was a patient and she had to have her life support turned off...'

'Yeah I heard that one too. Not much of an excuse though is it?' Callie shook her head violently. 'I saw him briefly when he shot Sandra...he looked...normal...I mean how is a shooter meant to look for Christ's sake?' Mark was getting angry now, not at Callie, just because this was the first time he'd sat down and thought about it and processed what the day had held for him. 'I'm sorry.'

'It's ok.' Callie said offering a small smile. 'It's been a horrific day for all of us Mark but if I've learnt anything in the time I've been at Seattle Grace it's that we have this shit times, but we always come out on the other side of it. You know why?' Mark shook his head. 'Because we're _family._'

Mark smiled, Cal always knew how to cheer him up and he was deeply concerned for Arizona's health. He knew that if anything happened to her it would be the end of Callie Torres as she was; she would become a shell and there would be nothing he could do to stop it.

'How long do you think it will be before we're allowed back into the hospital?' Callie asked.

'I don't know...the police have set up camp there, sorting out the bodies and cleaning up...I should imagine it'll be long, it's not like the crimes got to be solved, the son of a bitch who did it is in the police morgue...it'll only take a mop and a quick plaster to cover up the bullet holes and no one will know any different...'

Both sat in silence once again considering the last words Mark had said. He was right, it would only take a bit of plaster over bullet holes and a good scrub of the floor to remove the blood stains. Even though the hospital would be able to re-open within a couple of days both gave thought to how difficult it would be to walk back through those front doors; to walk the corridors that they had walked on this day and to walk past the places where they had seen the horrors that they had. It would take a lot of time to heal the wounds that they all shared that was for sure.

Callie woke up with a start; she couldn't ever remember falling asleep.

'Sorry Callie I think I nudged you...I was just trying to check Arizona's vitals and was trying not to wake you.'

Callie looked sleepily towards Teddy who was looking very apologetic and who was dressed in the red scrubs of Seattle Pres hospital.

'Don't worry, I've not jumped ship...I mean red for scrubs? I suppose it hides the blood...' I laughed, Teddy's light-hearted attempts were very welcome in amongst such shit circumstances.

'How is she?' Callie asked nodding her head towards Arizona's lifeless body.

'She's doing good Cal...for what she's been through...the loss of blood, she did bloody well to survive the surgeries if I'm honest with you. But don't you worry we're keeping a close eye on her.'

'When will she come off the ventilator?'

'When she fights to breathe for herself.' Teddy said plainly. 'I can't put a time frame on that one I'm afraid...if she hasn't done so within the week, we'll reassess what's going on.'

'What does reassess mean?' Callie's eyes went wide with fear as she thought about what the answer could be.

'It means we'll just have another look at labs, x-rays, scans...just hold out Cal, we'll get her back.' Teddy seemed so sure of herself but Callie couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario.

Trying to distract herself from those thoughts she asked after everyone else and about the hospital.

'Derek's just woken up, he's still in a bad way but he's come round well and he has Yang to thank for being alive. Ruby, the api girl, is fine, a bit traumatised but fine none the less, she'll be going home tomorrow. Karev has just come off of his ventilator and he's looking to make a full recovery. The hospital is pretty much fixed, last I heard they were sorting out the bullet holes, Richard is acting Chief obviously and he wants to get the hospital open again within two days but he says that he'll wait and see how many staff are ready to come back before he declares the hospital open again...obviously we'll be a few surgeons down for a while anyway with them filling the beds here.' Teddy gave me a wink as she walked out of the room saying that she would be back.

I didn't have time to think before there was another knock at the door, I was glad to see Bailey walk through the door; she looked more aged than anyone I had seen from the hospital. She offered a smile and sat opposite me on the other side of Arizona's bed.

'I suppose you're fed up with people asking how you are and how Arizona is?'

'It's fine, I understand it's only because they're worried, hell I'm always asking after everyone else... I'm fine and there's no change with Arizona. How are you Miranda?'

'I'm...I'm leaving to go and stay with my Mum for a month with little Tuck. I can't stay here.' Bailey didn't really answer Callie's question directly but she could see that Bailey was suffering with what she had gone through on that day.

'If you want to talk about anything Miranda then...I know we all didn't go through the same thing exactly, but each of us witnessed our own version of horror that day...the vision of Arizona on the floor, surrounded in blood will never leave me now...just...we're all here.'

'I know Callie...I know...I just can't stay here...I just wanted to come and see you both for myself before I went anywhere.'

'Ok...thanks Bailey...you take care of yourself and come back to us when you can.' They embraced in a hug, both women were closer than some people knew, both had been there for each other during some pretty shit times, but no situation came close to this incident. Callie watched Bailey go sadly, she knew that people dealt with this type of event in different ways, but she was sad that Bailey wasn't going to be there, in a selfish way more than anything, Callie would miss Bailey's support.

Callie sat back down in place next to Arizona and stared intently at her beautiful face. She squeezed her hand, 'please baby just wake up...or show me a sign...show me that your fighting...please...' The tears dripped down and off of Callie's face. As if this triggered something for Arizona, her finger moved and her BP started to rise; Callie watched the screens and didn't understand what was going on, before she knew it Arizona was coughing and choking on her tube, her eyes still firmly closed. Callie reached behind the bed and thumped the red button, instantly the room was filled with nurses and Teddy came running in afterwards.

Teddy surveyed the screens and smiled, 'She's fighting the tube...Callie leave the room whilst we sort her out please.'

'I am not going anywhere!' This process was going to hurt so she wanted to be there for Arizona.

'Nurse Stephens please take Callie outside. Callie this is going to be bad enough without you distracting her from the fact that she needs to breathe!'

Before Callie could say another word she was ushered out of the room by the nurse and could only watch through the blinds as Teddy removed the tube from Arizona's throat. Callie couldn't see whether Arizona was actually awake or not; she knew that sometimes people still remained unconscious even after they had fought the tube. After what seemed like an age Teddy stood back from the bed and along with the other nurses filed out the room.

'Well?' Callie asked as soon as Teddy had taken a step out of the room.

Teddy just grinned broadly. 'She's awake. Groggy, but awake.' Callie felt the tears well in her eyes as she realised that Arizona was going to be ok. 'We'll take a look at her wounds and assess her physically when she's had time to come round a bit, you can go in and be with her but just don't excite her too much, she needs to rest.' Teddy smiled and walked off.

Callie took a few deep breaths before pushing the handle down and re-entering the room. Callie glanced nervously over at the bed and nearly collapsed with emotion where she was for her eyes met the piercing blue that belonged to Arizona. Callie rushed round the side of the bed and grabbed Arizona's hand in hers, stroking a strand of hair out from her eyes.

'He-e-y you.' Arizona managed to choke out the words before she coughed.

'Shh, don't try and talk babe.' Callie shushed her not wanting her to outdo herself before she was truly ready. Arizona surveyed Callie; the last time she had seen that beautiful face she had thought she would never see it again. She had taken the three bullets and thought that was it; she had thought that she wouldn't get the chance to say she was sorry, wouldn't get the chance to talk through it with Callie, and because of that fact she had had this image flash through her head of Callie, her, a wedding ring, ten kids and chickens.

'I'm so-o-orry.' Arizona tried again to talk but her throat was on fire and she was having difficulty breathing, she began to cough again.

'Shhh, Zona please stop trying to talk...here...' Callie slipped the oxygen mask over Arizona's face and instantly she could breathe easier. 'They'll be plenty of time to talk...now's not the time...you need to rest, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here when you wake up.' Callie smiled at Arizona and gripped her hand once more.

This reassurance was all Arizona needed to drift straight back off to sleep. She just needed to know that Callie wasn't going anywhere, that she'd be there when she woke up, through her recovery and finally there when they needed to talk.

Callie watched as Arizona drifted straight back into her sleep; God she looked so beautiful. Callie smiled to herself. Her Arizona was awake.

_**A/N: So I'm not too sure what I feel about that chapter...reviews please guys :D**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Sooorryy it's been a while for an update I was moving into my new accommodation at uni! Hope everyone is still with me on this story, this chapter's mostly fluff and you might recognise a couple of lines at the end that I've stolen from the wonderwoman that is Shonda! **_

After Arizona had fallen asleep again she didn't wake up until the following evening, exhaustion taking over her completely. Callie had remained by her side all night refusing to leave so convincingly that Teddy went and got takeaway for the both of them to eat deciding that Callie needed the company of someone who could talk. When Callie fell asleep herself, stretched out on the sofa in the room, Teddy grabbed a blanket and made sure she was comfy before leaving to go and find an on-call room to spend the night in.

They still hadn't been allowed back to the hospital and even though they had seen some horrific things the last time they were there, most just wanted to get back so that some form of normalcy could be regained. News was that the hospital would re-open the following day to staff only and then the decision would be made about whether it would then be opened to the public after seeing how many staff came in as the Chief had instructed everyone to take off as much time as they needed.

Callie was starting to go a little mad stuck in the same room 24/7 but she knew that she'd drive herself even madder if she was anywhere but by Arizona's side. She'd popped out of the room briefly to go to the loo and stick a head in Derek's and Alex's rooms. They were both doing well and both looked like they would make a full recovery much like Arizona. Still the fear haunted Callie that Arizona could so easily have been dead; horrible nightmares haunted her as soon as she closed her eyes but as soon as she woke up to see Arizona peacefully sleeping, all bad thoughts would soon vanish.

Callie was flicking through a medical journal when Arizona finally woke up for the second time. As she forced her eyes open she was relieved to see Callie still there in her room. She was sat with her feet up on the bed, one hand holding open a journal and the other firmly clasped around her own hand that lay limply at her side. She smiled and moved so that she could see Callie better, instantly regretting it as she winced in the pain in her side.

'Babe?' Callie almost toppled backwards off of the chair which made Arizona chuckle despite the fact that she was in a lot of pain. 'How's your pain? Shall I get Teddy to put up your pain meds?'

Arizona simply nodded, still not wanting to talk in case it caused her to cry out in even more pain. Callie left briefly to find Teddy and when they came back Teddy did a quick exam and instantly upped Arizona's pain meds slightly.

'That should be a bit easier.' Teddy said with a smile as she lay a gently hand on Arizona's shoulder before turning and leaving so that the two could have some time alone.

'That feel better?' Callie asked, concern still pouring into her words.

'Yeah...feels a lot better.' Arizona was glad to find that when she spoke there was no burning session or urge to cough anymore. 'Are you ok? I didn't get chance to ask last time...you didn't get hurt?'

'No, I'm fine.' Callie smiled. 'I never saw him.'

'Oh my God!' Arizona suddenly exclaimed.

'What? Are you in pain? Arizona?' Callie asked, alarmed by Arizona's sudden outburst.

'Ruby? How is she? Oh my God...please tell me she's ok?' Arizona suddenly felt a huge fear in her chest as she immediately thought the worst for some reason.

'Oh God Arizona I thought something was wrong with you physically!' Callie exclaimed, but on seeing Arizona's expression she quickly continued, 'Ruby's fine, Avery and Sanchez fixed her up whilst you were in the OR yourself.'

'What? How? Tell me what happened Cal?' Arizona had a huge need to hear what had happened that day whilst she had been unconscious, she needed to know that people were ok more than anything. Callie re-told the events of the day in the most sensitive way possible, not wanting to upset or distress Arizona anymore than she was.

'People died...' Arizona said weakly thinking how with her injuries she was so lucky to be alive and even luckier to look like she would make a full recovery.

'Don't think about it too much sweetheart, please just concentrate on getting better.' Callie said as she saw the emotion and fear set into those blue eyes that she held so dear.

Their conversation was interrupted as there was a knock on the door. They both looked up to see Chief Webber coming into the room. 'Sorry to interrupt ladies, I just wanted to check up and see how you were.' He offered a small smile which they both returned. Callie got up and embraced him a hug which he reciprocated warmly. He moved to the side of the bed and gave Arizona's hand a squeeze before she invited him to sit down.

'How are you feeling Dr. Robbins?'

'I'm feeling much better thanks Chief, glad to be awake.' She smiled warmly back at someone who she admired and looked up to more than anyone in her life, aside from her parents and Callie.

'How's the hospital Chief?' Callie spoke now.

'It's all ok now...aesthetically...I suppose the rest of it will be a bit longer procedure...'

'Can I be transferred back there?' Arizona asked, regardless of the fact that it had been the place that she had been horrifically shot, she wanted to be back in the place which she regarded as home and be surrounded by the people that were her extended family.

The Chief let out a low chuckle at Arizona's question. 'I'm sure that won't be a problem if that's what you want. Just let Teddy know and I'm sure she can sort it out.'

'Is everyone _ready_ to come back?' Callie asked cautiously.

'Yeah...I was surprised but apart from the obvious ones that were injured everyone is keen to be back, you know Bailey has left for a month, but other than that there's only a couple of nurses that have asked for some time off...even Meredith wants to get back to it tomorrow.' Callie and Arizona nodded as the Chief spoke both knowing that they were of the same frame of mind as Meredith.

'You'll be back tomorrow won't you Cal?' Arizona completely caught Callie off-guard and she just sat their gaping like a fish. 'She'll be back tomorrow Chief.' Arizona now turned back to Chief and flashed one of her dimpled smiles.

'Hang on a second...I'll probably take a couple more weeks off please Chief?' Callie ignored Arizona and spoke directly to the Chief.

'Nooo, Cal you need to get back to work.'

'Arizona...'

'Ahem...' the Chief interrupted them before he got dragged into the middle of their discussion. 'I'll leave you two to it! Arizona, I'll have a word with Teddy about getting you transferred tomorrow, I'm glad to see you're better. See you later.' He nodded at them both as he left chuckling to himself, glad to see that not only was Arizona looking healthier, but also that her and Callie seemed to be getting back to their best.

As soon as the Chief had closed the door behind him Arizona turned to Callie, 'Why do you need more time off babe?'

'Well I want to be here for you! Help you with your recovery...'

Arizona smiled, 'I know babe and believe me I love you for it, but you being stuck in this room isn't going to help, besides you can come see me when you're not in surgery or with patients anyway! Seriously Cal, it'll do you good to get back to it, and I'm feeling better already, you watch, within a month I'll be running round chasing you into every on-call room I can!'

They both broke into fits of laughter at the picture Arizona had just painted. 'I love you Calliope Torres.'

'I love you too.' They both smiled at each other, enjoying each other's laughter and smile; it had been a while since they had shared a moment of happiness like this.

The following day Arizona's wish was granted as she was transported back to Seattle Grace early afternoon. Derek and Alex had requested the same thing and were transported in separate ambulances at the same time; all of them wanting to be back to where their friends and loved ones would be. Callie rode in the ambulance with Arizona and still refused to go back to work at least for a couple more days.

When they arrived at Seattle Grace ambulance bay an unusual feeling washed over the both of them – unease. Walking into the hospital had always been something that encouraged excitement, success, and happiness; now they weren't sure whether that would ever be fully regained. Maybe, in time. Callie walked next to Arizona's gurney as it was wheeled through the ER and into the elevator so that she could be transferred to a ward. Even though her case wasn't orthopaedic, due to the lack of patients as they had only just re-opened, the Chief had agreed that she could be on the ortho floor to offer some compromise for the two surgeons. This meant that Callie had been convinced to go back to work within a couple of days as Arizona would be on her ward.

Once Arizona was settled in her room a therapist came in to talk through a rehabilitation schedule with her. Once the chest wound had healed she would need physio to get her shoulder and leg back to full use, especially as she depended on them both heavily to be the superstar surgeon that she was. When asked how long he thought the whole process would take, the therapist was uneasy about giving a definite estimate but hazarded a guess at around nine to ten months for Arizona to get complete use back in both her arm and her leg. Arizona wasn't best pleased; she needed to get back to work, more for her sanity than anything.

'Do you think he's right that it will take that long?' Arizona asked Callie once the physio had left the room.

'Ummmm I deal with broken bones Arizona I don't really know...but with the muscle and potential nerve damage I would say that he made a pretty fair estimate yeah...sorry babe.' She gave a smile, knowing that Arizona had wanted her to half the recovery time she had just been offered. 'Don't worry we'll have you back at work in no time babe.'

'10 months? It's too long...'

'Yeah but think about it, he said 10 months for you to be back to your full function, the definition of full function for you is being able to do the delicate surgeries you do...in say...5 months you'll be able to be back at work on the ward, just not in surgery...' Callie knew five months was a very optimistic estimate for even her thigh wound and chest to be healed but she needed Arizona to remain as positive as possible.

'Hmmm...I suppose...' Arizona still didn't like the idea of being stuck either in the hospital bed or at their flat, if she was even welcome there that is...

'Penny for your thoughts?' Callie asked raising an eyebrow at Arizona, she could practically hear the cogs turning.

'Oh nothing...just thinking that's all...' Arizona bit her lip, a sure sign that she was nervous and too 'thinky' for her own good.

'About the shooting?'

'No actually...is that bad of me?'

'No of course not, it's good that you can put it behind you Zona, but don't just push it further down in your feelings, cause it'll only resurface in time.' At this, Arizona raised her eyebrows. 'What? We all did a pysch rotation when we were interns!' They both laughed. 'But seriously babe if you need to talk about it... To me...or someone professional?'

'No, no, I don't want to talk to anyone professional...I just...it's fine and I don't see the point although I've already heard mention that the Chief has brought in some top trauma shrink to clear everyone for surgery?'

'Yeah I heard that too.'

'So I suppose I'll have to in the end, but right now I just want to not...if that makes sense?'

'Of course it does.' Callie replied with a smile. 'So if you weren't thinking about the shooting...what were you thinking about?'

'Just thinking about my recovery and...stuff.' Arizona wasn't sure that her and Callie were ready for the big conversation yet and was reluctant to be the one to bring it up.

'Stuff?' Callie could pretty much guess at what the 'stuff' would be, but she was scared of being the one to broach the subject first.

'It's not important right now...not yet...I don't want to get mad...and argue...you know what stuff I mean...' Arizona said the last words very quietly as she was scared what Callie would say in response.

'Yeah...maybe that's all stuff we should talk about later when you're feeling stronger. But you hear me when I say this Zona; I'm not going anywhere...almost losing you is about all I can take...and I hate that it took something so shit to make me realise that...'

'I know, me too, but at least we have and now we can work through it together. I don't want to ever have to live my life without you Calliope Torres.'

Callie couldn't form words as the tears trickled down her face, instead she wiped away Arizona's own tears gently with her thumb and kissed her softly on the mouth.

_**A week later**_

Arizona woke up from a night of restless sleep, with her lighter pain dosage she was finding it increasingly difficult to sleep through the nightmares of Gary Clark and his gun. On the plus side, physically she was feeling stronger every day. Her chest was so much lighter after just the week and she was now allowed out of bed every day, with her being permitted trips in a wheelchair for a short while during the day. She had managed to convince Callie to get back to work after many discussions, Callie had eventually agreed when she saw that Arizona could move herself around in her wheelchair just enough to get out to the nurses' station on the ortho ward.

The hospital was almost back to full working order, Alex and Derek were still recovering along with Arizona and Bailey was still on leave, but other than that everyone was back. It had been decided that a memorial service would be held, but not for another week to give time for the injured to recover and be fit enough to attend.

For now Arizona had managed to wheel herself out to the nurses' station once more and was content to just sit and read some charts that her paeds nurse, Rachel had brought down for her to read so she could keep up with the game.

'You know you're meant to be in bed resting for at least _some_ of the day!' Teddy walked over to Arizona. 'You are the worst patient I've ever had!'

Arizona flashed her a super-dimpled-smile, 'Well you know I'll go stir crazy if you keep me in that room against my own will Dr. Altman.'

'Pfft, well you can wheel yourself back to your room please so I can check on your incision sites and other stuff.' Teddy ignored the protests from her best friend as she grabbed the chair handles and pushed her herself back to the room. Once Arizona was laid down back in bed Teddy eased off the wound dressing so she could prod it a bit. Arizona winced as she did, but only very slightly which was a vast improvement from the day before alone. 'You're looking good Arizona.'

Arizona chuckled, 'Teddy I never knew you felt that way inclined!'

Teddy just shook her head; her best friend was back to her usual perky self and in light of what had happened to her, it was a very welcome transformation. 'I reckon you'll be able to go home within the week...providing Torres and your physio clear you with your other wounds.'

'Awesome! Thanks Teds! Now can I get back out of bed?' Teddy just raised her eyebrows and let out a sigh, helping Arizona into her chair once more; she knew that she would just do it herself as soon as Teddy were gone so at least helping her meant she didn't over-exert herself.

Once back at the nurses' station Arizona continued to read over the chart she had been previously; it was one of her terminal patients and it wasn't looking good, all she wanted was to go up to the ward and offer her knowledge to whomever was now assigned to the case but she knew that Teddy would never allow it. More-so she hadn't been through those double doors since she had been shot. Facing the place where she had met Gary Clark for the first, and last, time was not something she was in a rush to do. No one had asked her to tell them what exactly had happened when he had shot her, and she was very glad, she would tell someone...Calliope...in time, but for now she was content with pushing it far from her conscious thoughts.

'Heya beautiful.' Arizona was brought from her thoughts as Callie walked in and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

'Hey yourself,' came Arizona's reply.

'Causing trouble for my nurses again are we?' Callie joked with her girlfriend knowing that the nurses were more than happy to have her sitting at the desk and reading her charts. Very often she would help them with cases that were on the ortho ward and she had become very popular on the ward.

'You know me! Resident trouble maker!' Arizona gave Callie a wink.

'Teddy said she came down to check you over; go ok?'

'Yup, it went great actually, she says if you and my physio clear me I can go home sometime next week.' Callie smiled broadly.

'Sounds wonderful! I'll have a word with Rob when I see him and get him to access your movements with the view of whether you could go home or not.'

'Awesome. You just come from surgery?'

'Yeah, bloke with a broken leg, nothing complicated, just a straight pin and fix.'

'Still rockstar though!' Callie smiled at Arizona's use of her surgical name for her.

'So when I saw Teddy she agreed that I can take you to the cafeteria for lunch as long as you don't over-excite yourself.'

'Really? That's super! I'm so bored of normal hospital food, I can have the chocolate mousse and everything!'

'Right there goes the over-exciting yourself part then! But seriously babe do you feel up for it?'

'Nothing would be better for my recovery right now than having lunch with my gorgeous girl.' Callie just smiled and kissed Arizona, words not doing how she felt justice.

Lunch was indescribably fantastic for the both of them; getting Arizona off of the ortho floor had been a good thing for both women and it put a huge smile on both their faces. They didn't talk much, just enjoying each other's company in a relatively normal situation.

'God I've missed this chocolate mousse!' Arizona practically shovelled the dessert into her mouth, much to Callie's amusement.

'I've missed you.' The words came out of Callie's mouth before she could stop herself; she had not wanted to bring the mood down, but she couldn't help herself. Arizona's gaze immediately met Callie's. 'I'm sorry...that was meant to come out...I don't want to bring the mood down...'

'Shush...Calliope...I've missed you too...this last month has been stupid...'

'I know.' Callie said quietly, she looked down at her hands whilst Arizona began to bite her lip; both women were suddenly nervous as hell at what they were about to say, both knowing what they wanted to say, what they had tried to say, when it all took a turn for the worse on that horrific day.

A lot of thoughts ran through Callie's head; should she just leave it at that? Pour her heart out? Let Arizona talk first? _Fuck it_, she thought, she'd almost lost Arizona, and life was too short...

'People died...' Arizona raised her eyebrows at Callie, unsure of where this was going and wanting to make a certain point herself. 'People are dead...' Callie ploughed through as she finally brought her eyes up to meet Arizona's, '...I don't want to have kids if it means I can't be with you.'

Arizona's heart almost exploded with love there but she fought through the emotion to make the point she had been wanting to, 'No, no, we'll have kids, we'll have all kinds of kids, and I always thought that I wasn't cut out to be a Mom but you'll be a great Mom, you'll be an amazing Mom and I love you so much and I can't live without you and our ten kids...'

Before Arizona could finish painting the picture that had been firmly implanted in her head, her heart, since she had been shot, Callie had pushed the chair away, grabbed her face and kissed her so hard Arizona thought she would collapse right there from lack of oxygen. Their tongues danced in time with each other, both revelling in the love that was oozing from each of them. Eventually Callie pulled away.

'You didn't let me finish.' Arizona said simply smiling at Callie broadly as she just raised her eyebrows in question. 'I was going to say...I can't live without you and our ten kids and our three chickens...'

Once again before Arizona had finished forming words Callie's mouth was on hers.

_**A/N: Please review folks :D Reviews = major love!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Here's another one...not sure where we're going but hopefully we'll find out soon! **_

**A week later. **

Callie and Arizona had been even more inseparable since there lunch together than they had been before. The realisation that both of them had been prepared to give up their dream and change the person they were for the woman that they loved was a reality check for the both of them and the reassurance that they both needed.

Arizona was getting fitter every day, she wanted to be at home more than ever and living with Callie was a definite prize at the end of the hard road. An even further goal was provided in the image now firmly in both of their heads of the couple with children.

The memorial service had been planned around the recovery of Arizona, Derek and Alex whilst it also waited for Bailey to be back; it just wouldn't have been the same otherwise. It was organised to be on the day exactly a month after the shooting had taken place and was to be held in the hospital grounds. A memorial garden was being placed at the front entrance, replacing the paved pedestrian area it had been previously. This meant that every day the staff would walk through it and it was meant to cause them to smile rather than to be sad.

Richard had kept it very under-wraps about what the design and layout was, wanting to give something to the hospital; he still blamed himself partially for not being there on the day from the very beginning. Callie had gone up to get Arizona as she was still wheelchair bound only to find her sat at the edge of bed in tears. Callie instantly ran forwards and wrapped her arms gently around Arizona, knowing that she was still very sore.

'Shush...What's wrong baby?' She soothed as she rocked her girlfriend back and forth.

'I-i-i-i should've died Calliope...' Arizona coughed out in between full-body sobs that tore Callie's heart to pieces.

'What?'

'Me...I got shot...not once but t-t-three times and other people just got s-s-shot once and they're now dead...w-w-why did I-i-i deserve to live?' Callie didn't have a clue what to say; Arizona had been so...upbeat since the shooting, this was the first time that she'd had a visible breakdown, that Callie knew of at least.

'Babe, it's not about who deserves to live and who doesn't. Every single person that lost their life that day didn't deserve it...Reed, Percy, Sandra... none of them deserved it Arizona...not you or Derek or Alex either...but it happened...Gary Clark came into our hospital and ripped out it's very heart, but you know what?' Callie reached forward so that Arizona was looking into her eyes. 'He hasn't broken Seattle Grace Mercy West...he's made us stronger...I know it's shit...but look at what this shooting has done for us...God I'm not saying I'm glad the shooting happened...no way...but we have to make the best out of the shittest situation Zona. You got lucky...we were able to get you to an OR and save your life but please don't dwell on why you're alive babe...it'll eat you up otherwise. All I can say is that I will be eternally grateful to whomever was watching over you that day...be it God...or someone else...your brother maybe...I don't know...I'm just going to forever be in their debt cause you're still here with me and I get to grow old with you...marry you...and have babies with you...'

'...and chickens.' Arizona whispered as she nuzzled into Callie's neck as the tears stopped falling. Her Calliope always knew how to make her feel better regardless of the situation.

'Of course babe, the chickens too.' Callie kissed the top of Arizona's head.

'So you want to get married then?' Arizona couldn't help but ask the question as the stupidest of grins spread across her face. The question caught Callie off guard; it had never been something they had spoken about but it just seemed right if they were going to have kids...plus Arizona in a wedding dress...phwoar!

'Well if you want to...' Callie didn't know what else to say.

Arizona chuckled at Callie's obvious nervousness, 'It's ok I won't hold you to it.' Arizona kissed Callie before sitting back up and continuing to pull on her scrubs. She didn't know why but she felt that she needed to be in them for the memorial service. Callie came out of her thoughts and helped Arizona gently get dressed, taking care to miss putting pressure on any of her wounds as she knew they were very tender.

Arizona was positioned in the chair, 'Ready?' Callie asked, pulling on her lab-coat.

'Ready,' replied Arizona as she pulled on her own white coat. They walked in silence to the elevator, rode down to the lobby and joined the rest of the staff who were beginning to assemble outside. Derek and Alex were already there; both of them being men had discarded their chairs and instead leant on the nearest thing for support; Derek on Meredith and Alex on a tree.

'Hey guys.' Teddy moved to stand the other side of Arizona to Callie.

'Hey Teds.' Both women greeted the cardio surgeon.

'I suppose it's stupid to ask how you both are?' Teddy's questioned was met with a nervous chuckle from Callie and Arizona, neither wanting to answer the question.

'Is Bailey here?' Arizona asked, from her chair she could only see peoples torsos.

'Yeah, she's there look...oh wait she's coming over.'

'Oh how it's good to see you up and about Arizona.' Bailey greeted all three women with a hug for each of them.

'How are you Bailey?' Callie asked.

'Tired. Hurting. Angry. Confused. The same as you three I should imagine.' Bailey's response did indeed sum up the three women's feelings, more so the entire staff.

All four stood there in silence waiting for the unveiling to begin. As the Chief stood up Arizona got angry with the fact that she couldn't see and instantly went to get up, regretting it as her thigh, shoulder and chest screamed at her. She tried to push through the pain but it was too much and she almost gave up.

Then she felt three sets of hands helping her silently. Teddy and Bailey supported her gently under her arms and Callie moved behind her. Callie kicked the chair out of the way and wrapped her hands around Arizona's mid-drift so that she could help take some of the weight off of her leg.

Callie's mouth moved to Arizona's ear, 'I've got you babe.'

That simple sentence was all it took for silent tears to fall down Arizona's face already. She nestled into Callie's embrace whilst also looping her arms around Bailey's and Teddy's so that it was more comfortable for all of them.

'Thank you.' Arizona breathed so that all of them could hear. Bailey and Teddy simply smiled at her whilst Callie kissed her neck softly. They all looked up as Chief Webber stood up in front of them.

'Today is not a day to be sad. I think we've all done our fair share of crying and grieving over the past month. Instead, today is a day to remember those that we lost; to celebrate their lives and reveal our own little way of remembering them for everyone that comes to this hospital in a week, a month, a year, a century; people will know what they gave to us. So today, remember those we lost, but remember the people they were, what they brought to the hospital and what they brought to our personal lives... Remember them with a smile on your face and love in your heart...' Richard stepped down and pulled off the sheet that was covering the memorial.

It was very simply; beautiful. It was a small waterfall design, on the rock that the water spilled out over were written the names of the people that lost their lives that day. It was so simple and fitted in perfectly with the rest of the front of the hospital and yet it was still clear what it was there for. Everyone remained silent as they took in the scene before them; some had brought flowers which they threw into the water.

'Chief can I say something?' Derek motioned forwards; he walked tall and strode forwards even though he was in obvious pain.

'Well you are the actual Chief.' Richard joked.

'Thank you.' Derek said as he stepped up to the front, swaying slightly. 'Firstly I'm going to say thank you. Thank you to all of you for coming back to work so quickly, so efficiently, you all truly are the foundations of this hospital and that fact will never change. Secondly I want to step down as Chief. This job isn't for me, I don't want to do it anymore...I want to be a surgeon...and let's be honest here Richard Webber has and always be our Chief here...so yeah...back to you Chief!' With that Derek stepped down, threw a flower in the water, took Meredith's hand and walked back inside.

A laugh broke the silence that the four women were cast under as Bailey chuckled to herself, 'He quit! Just like that...oh Derek Shepherd...' The other three women stood with her gave a small chuckle before descending into silence once more.

The crowd dispersed to leave pretty much those four, the three still supporting Arizona on her feet.

'I need to go to my ward.' Arizona spoke clearly and with a degree of authority.

'Of course babe, sit down I'll wheel you back and get you to bed.' Callie answered straight away as she pulled the chair back and gently sat Arizona down in it.

'No Calliope you misunderstand me...I want to go back to _my_ ward...paeds...' Callie froze where she was; this would be the first time that they had both been back in the ward since the day of the shooting and it was going to be difficult for Callie as it would be for Arizona. Both Teddy and Bailey realised this and shared a knowing glance. Both had been back to the places they had seen the most horrific things: Bailey to the General ward and back to _that_ room; Teddy herself to the paeds ward where she had seen her best friend, covered in blood and thought she was dead.

'Are you sure Zona?' Callie couldn't hide the concern in her voice.

'I'm sure. I need to face it and stop hiding behind my injuries.' Arizona didn't know where the conviction and confidence came from in her voice but she was glad it was there as she knew that Callie wouldn't let her go unless she was sure Arizona would be ok.

'Babe...'

'Calliope...please?' Arizona's dimpled smile and big blue eyes were too much for Callie to resist so she just nodded. As she moved to push Arizona Bailey pushed her away and gestured for her to walk alongside her girlfriend. Bailey and Teddy had already made up in their own minds separately that they would go with them; they knew how hard it would be and realised that Callie underestimated what it would do to her as well.

They walked back into the hospital in silence, Callie walked next to Arizona in her chair; she had her arm propped up so that she could hold Callie's, their fingers clasped tightly round each other. They rode the elevator once again in silence, when Bailey reached the double doors that led to the peads ward she stopped so that everyone could collect their thoughts.

'You _both _sure you're ready for this?' Teddy looked at both Arizona and Callie in turn. They both simply nodded and tightened their grip on each other's hand.

Teddy pushed through the double doors in front of them and as soon as Arizona's eyes fell on the floor in front of her she instantly felt the tears roll down her face and her breathing quicken. Bailey stopped pushing the chair forward and placed a reassuring hand on the blonde's quivering shoulder. Callie too had tears in her eyes as she saw Arizona's lifeless body in front of her again, covered in all that blood.

'I told him about you Calliope you know...' Arizona's voice was almost inaudible as she spoke.

'What?' Callie replied, bending down so she was now at Arizona's eye level.

'Gary Clark...I told him about you...I thought if I told him some things or...I dunno...he wouldn't shoot me.' This was the first time that Arizona had really revealed what had happened between her and Gary Clark, Callie ran gentle circles on Arizona's wrists as she continued. 'I think the fact that I was a lesbian didn't really help my chances...' she let out a sarcastic chuckle. 'He said he was looking for Richard Webber...said he'd already taken down Derek and wanted his final 'prize'...then he started crying...he said he was sorry...then he asked me if I had anyone in my life that I loved with all my heart...someone that I would do anything for...of course I told him about Calliope... he laughed...said that I couldn't know true love if it was with another woman...I shouted at him then...told him he was wrong, I did truly love another woman with all my heart, someone that I would do anything for...give my life for even...that made him laugh, he said that I should prove it and he raised the gun and shot...he shot my shoulder first and I just kind of stood there, it hurt but I was so determined to not let him see that I hurt...then he shot my thigh...I couldn't hold it in then and I screamed...fell to my knees and begged him not to shoot me again, I knew that I would survive if that was the only wounds he inflicted then he laughed and shot me in the chest...I don't remember him leaving, I think I blacked out cause the next thing I can remember is seeing you Calliope.'

Callie's face was now completely tear stained as well, her mouth agape at the whole story Arizona had just shared. Teddy and Bailey both had tears on their face as well. They all stood in silence after Arizona had finished her story, none of them really sure what to say next.

Their thoughts were all interrupted by the voice of a tiny human; 'Dr. Robbins!' They all turned to the direction of the voice to see a young girl running up to them all. As she neared and took in the faces of the four doctors she slowed her run and frowned. 'Why are you all sad?'

Arizona smiled at the girl in front of her; she was one of her long term patients, Jessica, she had leukaemia and things weren't looking good, not that you would tell from the way she was. She just sometimes had good days, they were becoming less frequent but when she did, she lit up the whole ward.

When she didn't get an answer Jessica prompted further; 'Why are you sad Dr. Robbins?' She didn't know who the other three doctors were so she spoke solely to her favourite surgeon.

'We were just remembering a sad story that's all Jess...now more importantly how are you?' Arizona plastered a smile on her face, instantly feeling better with the addition of her favourite patient. The other three doctors took the time to wipe their own faces and hide the fact that they had been crying from the new addition to their party.

'Ow...wellllll are you want to come to my room? We can have tea and cake and we can play onoply and...' The little one stopped as she underwent a huge coughing fit. Arizona rubbed her back until it ceased.

'Of course that sounds perfect, why don't you run along and get the tea on and I'll catch you up?'

'Ok!' She went to leave and then turned back to the group of surgeons. 'You can come too if you would be liking to?' She addressed the other women in the group, not wanting to be impolite.

'Oh well thank you very much but I think I have to be getting to a surgery...you enjoy yourself though.' Bailey gave both Ariozna and Callie a reassuring shoulder-squeeze before exiting through the double doors, with Teddy shortly following as she was already late to start her rounds.

'Would you like to come?' Jess addressed Callie, moving to stand in front of her.

'Well if that's ok then I would love to come.' Callie had calmed herself down, she knew that she wanted to talk with Arizona more about what happened, tell her version of events but she knew Jess was Arizona's favourite patient and she was quite enjoying seeing Arizona with her dimpled smile permanently back on her face. They let Jess run on ahead so that they had time to collect themselves.

'Arizona...I...'

'We'll take about it later baby...I don't want to have to dry my face all over again...and besides we'll be late for our tea party!' Callie laughed, kissed Arizona and pushed her round to Jessica's room.

For the next two hours Callie and Arizona stayed in Jess' room, and found themselves drinking tea, eating cake and locked in at intense game of monopoly. Arizona, even though Jess was only five, was as competitive as ever and determined to win. When the game finally ended Arizona was declared the winner much to her joy as she had more money than the other two put together.

'Dr. Torrs, are you a tiny human doctor like Dr. Robbins?' Jess asked as they all sat there, she was laid down in the bed obviously worn out from the afternoon.

'Nope, I'm a bone doctor. I mend broken bones and replace old ones...stuff like that.'

'Ohhh that sounds cool...I want to be a doctor when I am bigger...' She yawned.

'I think it's about time we left you too it Jess, you need to get some sleep before Dr. Foster comes round.' Dr. Foster was the acting head of department whilst Arizona was off and although Arizona didn't like his personality he was a very good surgeon.

'I don't like Dr. Fost...he's not as nice as you Dr. Robbins...' Jess mumbled.

'Jess I think you can call me Arizona...if that's ok?'

'Ari...Ari...' she struggled with Arizona's name.

'How about Zona? That's the name I use...and you can call me Callie.' Callie spoke now.

'Dr. Zona and Dr. Cal...' Jess smiled sleepily at them both before drifting off into sleep very quickly. Both Arizona and Callie smiled at each other.

'She's amazing.' Callie stated simply.

'Yeah, she's my favourite patient...I just wish there was more I could do for her you know?'

'Do you think she'll make it?'

'I honestly don't know...I've had kids come back from worse...but I've also seen kids die from a lot less...it's hard; she's got the fight left in her but I honestly don't know with this one Cal.'

'Well at least she's got the best surgeon.' Callie gave her a wink.

'Hmmm...in ten months...'

'That's when you can operate Zona...you can get back to work before then...'

'I know...I'm going to work out my plan of action for Jess whilst I'm stuck in the hospital anyway.'

'Where are her parents?' Callie asked realising that they'd been in Jess' room all afternoon without a sign or mention of them.

Arizona took a hefty sigh; 'They were killed in a car crash on their way to the hospital two months ago...'

'Oh my God! That's awful...why didn't you tell me?' Callie asked, they had often spoke about Jess but Arizona had never mentioned that they were dead.

'Think about where we were two months ago babe?'

'Oh..' Callie didn't have to think too long to remember that two months ago she and Arizona weren't on speaking terms after breaking up over the kids thing. 'Sorry.'

'It's ok, you weren't to know... I had to tell her...it was horrible Cal...and I'll be honest that was another thing that reinforced in my mind that I didn't want kids...the thought that something could happen to us and we would leave behind a child to fend for themselves...that thought terrifies me Cal...but it's something I'm willing to risk now...since that day... because I love you so much and I want to have kids with you...'

Callie had moved to be next to Arizona now and kissed her softly, the fact that she was saying again that she now wanted kids filled Callie with such happiness. 'Come on, let's get you back to your room babe, leave Jess to sleep.' Arizona nodded and let Callie wheel her out of the peds ward.

As they went back through the double doors neither of them gave thought to Gary Clark, both of them too busy thinking about little Jess and about each other. Once back in the room, Callie helped Arizona back into bed and took the seat next to her bed.

'Thank you.' Arizona said, as Callie laced her fingers into hers.

'What for?'

'For everything babe. For being there...for the service, for listening to what happened, for coming with me to spend time with Jess...for understanding...for loving me...'

'You _never_ have to say thank you for that Zona...loving you is the most...easiest...amazing...rewarding thing I've ever done in my life and that fact is _never_ going to change.'

Arizona didn't speak, she just patted the bed next to her and siddled over, Callie climbed in and instantly lifted her arm around Arizona, pulling her close.

'I love you so much Calliope Torres.'

'I love you too babe.'

'Will you stay here with me tonight?' Arizona asked. 'I mean in bed with me...please?'

'Of course babe, I can think of nothing I'd rather do more.' Callie and Arizona settled into each other enjoying the warmth of being back in bed with the woman they loved as they drifted off into sleep easily.

_**A/N: Reviews please guys :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews, I really appreciate them and people's input, I do actually listen lol! I like to hear where you think the story should go and what you think should happen because sometimes that gives me ideas you see! I must point out here that I have little if any medical knowledge so if I go wrong somewhere don't throw a brick at me please!**_

Arizona woke up and forgot where she was for a split second as she woke up in the arms of the woman she loved. When she heard the bleeping and felt the dull ache in her shoulder she remembered where she was. Callie was snoring away, she smiled, she had missed waking up to her beautiful, snoring, girlfriend.

She snuggled in close to Callie's body, ignoring the pain that she still had in the areas of her body. Before she had chance to fall asleep Bailey and Teddy bustled into the room, turned on the light and declared it was morning rounds. Arizona groaned and shut her eyes tight, hoping that their friends would just go again, but they had their doctors heads on and they wanted to check on their patient.

'Come on, rise and shine ladies, Dr. Torres you shouldn't be in that bed...DR. TORRES!' Bailey rose her voice as the snores continued to escape from Callie.

'W-w-whatttt? A-a-arizona?' Callie woke up panicking that something was wrong with her girlfriend and furrowed her brow when she opened her eyes to a perfectly fine, dimple-flashing Arizona. She smiled, kissed her girlfriend and rolled off the bed into the seat next to it, rubbing her eyes so she could focus on what Teddy and Bailey were about to say and do.

'Right, Arizona we just want to check your incision sites please, take some bloods and check your vitals.' Bailey and Teddy moved expertly, both checking the sites they had operated on, as well as the other that they hadn't.

'OK, your incision sites look ok, still some redness and puffiness around your chest so just take it easy for a couple of days please, strict bed-rest for two days then we'll review.' Teddy ignored the whine that escaped Arizona's lips.

'Bed rest? You mean I have to stay in here?' Arizona said. 'I've been up and about doing physio I'm fine!'

'Yes you've been up and about pushing yourself too hard and if you don't stop you'll end up back in surgery and that will set your recovery time back even further, so stay put.' Teddy offered a smile to her best friend at the end of her medical speech, she knew that staying put was a hard thing for Arizona to do.

'Other than that you're looking good, stay put in bed for two days and pending what the physical therapist says you can go home by the end of the week.' Bailey gave the good news to Arizona, hoping that the reward of going home at the end of the week would be enough to keep her in bed.

'Ok fine but you best give me some charts to look over cause otherwise I won't be able to sit still.' Arizona offered a pout to the three ladies in the room, causing them all to laugh.

Teddy and Bailey finished up what they were doing and left to check on their other patients leaving the two alone once more.

'Will you bring me some charts Cal?'

'Yes! I'll go freshen up and get some for you in a bit, for now I'd quite like to spend some time with my girlfriend before I have to go and do some work.' With these words Callie got up and kissed Arizona.

'Ok, I think I can allow that.' Arizona smiled sheepishly, amazed at how Callie made her feel even after all this time.

'Zona?'

'Yes baby?'

'Can we talk about yesterday?'

'About what?

'About what you said when we walked through the double doors upstairs? With going in to see Jess I never got the chance to say something to you and I don't want to just ignore what you said but I don't want to upset you either by talking about it.'

Arizona took a deep sigh, she knew that it was something that had to be discussed but it didn't make it anymore easier. 'What do you want to talk about?'

'I dunno...I just didn't want to ignore what you said babe...you got shot because you said you loved me...'

'No Calliope, I got shot because Gary Clark needed help, because he felt he had no life left.'

'But what you said babe...'

'I said because I meant it Cal, I love you with all my heart, I would do anything for you, I would give my life for you...I only told the truth.'

'I love you so much babe, I just wish the fact that you loved me hadn't been the reason you got shot.' Callie let a single tear trickle down her face.

'Hey, come on babe,' Arizona wiped away the tear trickling down Callie's face. 'He would've shot me anyway, he didn't care who he hurt, the fact that I was wearing blue scrubs was reason enough for him, I'm just glad he just turned around after he did it, at least he didn't come in and hurt Ruby or you...'

Callie just smiled and kissed Arizona's hand, she didn't know who had sent Arizona back to her from an inch of death, but Callie would forever be in their debt.

**A few hours later.**

Arizona had been staring at Jessica's chart for hours and still she couldn't find a way to help her. Everything had been tried and yet the cancer was spreading throughout the poor child's body. She'd had blood and marrow transplants from her Dad whilst he had still been alive but she needed another set of transplants as the first lot had been rejected by her body. The chemotherapy she was undergoing was at the highest dose it could be for someone her age and Arizona just didn't know what else she could do. Waiting for an exact match to come through the donor system for both the blood and the marrow was going to be a lengthy wait – a wait that Jess didn't have the time for. Arizona just had to try and keep her alive long enough for her to find a donor and that was the challenge.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Callie came through the door with a pizza box in her hand. 'Thought you could do with some proper food!'

'Calliope you are amazing!' Arizona pushed the charts to the side and greedily took the pizza from Callie's hands enjoying the taste of something that wasn't hospital food.

Callie scanned over the name on the chart Arizona had been buried in, 'Find anything new?' Callie asked nodding her head towards Jess' chart.

'No, the only hope now is a donor, but I just don't know whether we'll be able to keep her alive long enough...the chemo is so hard for her, she's too young to take the dose she has to have to keep the cancer at bay...so you have to chose, do we give up on the chemo and let her live a more peaceful month or two, or do we put her through chemo, and a lot of pain only for her to die because we don't find a donor in time? What kind of a choice is that to make?' Arizona shook her head sadly as she set down her pizza, suddenly her desire to eat had left her.

'We just have to pray that donor comes round then babe.' Callie didn't really know what else to say, even though this wasn't her area of expertise she still knew that Jess' case really didn't look too good.

As if her ears were burning little Jessica came wandering into the room at that very moment.

'Jess! What are you doing down here and out of bed?' Arizona stared wide eyed at the apparently alone five year old.

'Wellllll nurse Rachel sayed that you couldn't come see me cuz you were feeling ill sooooooooo I thought I come see you.' Jess flashed a smile, nervous that she would be in trouble.

'Well come on in and help yourself to some pizza then!' Callie got up and lifted Jess onto the bed so she was sat at Arizona's feet facing the couple. Jess grabbed a slice of pizza and ate it like there was no tomorrow. Arizona watched her with a hint of sadness as she knew the chemo session she would have later would only bring it straight back up again. Jess herself seemed to realise this and slowed down her eating, nibbling away at the same piece of pizza whilst Callie and Arizona finished up the rest.

'Why are you feeling not well Zona?'

'I just have to stay in bed for a couple of days; if I do then I get to go home at the end of the week.'

'Oh...' Jess looked to her bunny in her hands.

'But don't you worry I'll be in here all the time keeping you company, you'll soon be sick of me.' Arizona winked at Jess whom instantly perked up at the thought of Arizona there to see her.

'Right I've got to go back to work so I'll leave you two here, Jess don't let her beat you at Monopoly again ok?' Callie rubbed the girl's head before kissing her wife and leaving them to it, smiling to herself at the image of Arizona with a child around all the time.

**A few hours later**

By the time Callie had finished her second set of rounds that day she went straight into surgery, it was a simple knee replacement but it was something she loved to do and in her girlfriend's words; 'she rocked it'. After scrubbing out of the surgery she finished up her charts and headed back to Arizona's room. She couldn't hear any noise coming from it and so assumed that Jess had gone back up to the peds ward. Instead as she turned into the room she was greeted with a wonderful scene.

Arizona was fast asleep, her arm firmly wrapped around Jessica who was positioned on Arizona's right side with her arm draped loosely round the blonde's waist. Callie stood at the door grinning like a Cheshire cat for quite some time before she made her way into the room and sat down at the side of the bed. She took Arizona's free hand and gently drew circles on it as she let her mind wander.

She thought back to the previous day when she had let slip mid rant that she wanted to marry Arizona. Even though they had talked, and indeed argued, about having kids, marriage was something they had never discussed. Callie smiled at the image she had in her head of both her and Arizona in a wedding dress. In that moment she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do more in her life.

'Calliope...' Callie was brought from her wedding thoughts as Arizona stirred gripping onto Callie's hand.

'Hey babe.'

'Sorry...we must have fell asleep, you should've woke me when you came in.'

'It's ok gorgeous I only just got here, besides I was quite enjoying watching you sleep.'

'Stalker.' Arizona giggled at her own comment, her shaking body waking up Jess in the process. 'Oh sorry sweetheart Callie made me laugh, sorry I woke you.'

Jess rubbed her eyes and smiled at Callie, 'That's ok!' She sat up and slid off the bed so she was sat on Callie's knee. This took Callie back a bit as Jess was always so attached to Arizona, but she welcomed it and shifted so Jess could lean comfortably against her body whilst Callie could still maintain her contact with Arizona's hand.

'Did you save lives Dr. Cali?' Jess looked at Callie. 'Zona said that you was being a rockstar doctor.'

'Haha did she now?' Callie stole a glance at Arizona who was watching them both with a lot of love in her eyes. 'Well yes I just helped a man walk again by replacing his old knee with a brand new one!'

'Woooooowwwwwwwww...that sounds cool!' Jess twiddled Callie's hair in her fingers and lent into her chest, she was feeling tired again already.

Arizona looked at the scene in front of her and couldn't believe how much her heart was swelling at the sight. Three months ago she hadn't wanted kids, the thought I'd never even come into her mind, especially not kids with Callie. Now, seeing the scene before her, it was all she could think about. Brining up a child with Callie would be one of the hardest and yet most rewarding things that she would ever put her mind to, she knew that, but in a way that made her want it even more.

Within minutes Jess was fast asleep once more in Callie's arms. 'She's so tiny.' Callie said as she looked down at the girl in her arms.

'Yeah she hasn't grown much over the past year at all and she's been losing weight very rapidly over the past couple of months.'

'It's not fair.' Callie said simply.

'I know.' Arizona found it hard enough to watch young kids die like this, but it was something she did every day, Callie on the other hand didn't and Arizona knew this all too well.

'Should I take her back up to peds?' Callie asked.

'Um...tell you what, page Dr. Foster and tell him that she's with me, if he was planning on doing anything today, which I don't think he was then he can come and do it here. It must be lonely for her sat in that room on her own. Lay her on the sofa and put that blanket on her, we can keep an eye on her.' Callie lifted Jess carefully and placed her on the sofa, positioning a cushion beneath her head and a blanket over her slender frame.

Once Jess was settled Callie stepped lightly back to the chair and sat, her hand instantly finding Arizona's once more.

'I wish there was more I could do Cal...'

'You're doing just that by letting her stay in here, by going and see her, by talking to her and playing with her like she's a normal child; that's what she needs...to remember what it's like to be a kid...to take her mind off the illness and remind her that she's got a life to fight for...' Callie looked to Arizona and saw tears trickling down her face. 'Sorry babe, I didn't mean to upset you.'

'No you didn't...it's just...sometimes the words you say Calliope...they just...they're perfect, you're perfect, and I love you.'

Callie smiled broadly, 'I love you too Zona.' Callie rested her head on the bed and let Arizona stroke her hair as she fell asleep herself, exhausted from the day's work. She stole one last glance at Jess before closing her eyes fully and letting sleep take over.

It seemed she'd only been asleep for second before Arizona was shaking Callie awake at an alarming speed.

'Callie! Help her! I can't move, you have to help her!' The panic in Arizona's voice alone was enough for Callie to shoot straight upright and take in the scene before her. Jess was awake and coughing violently. She was coughing so hard that she was struggling to breath and was turning a dangerous shade of purple.

'Oxygen Callie, she needs oxygen!'

Callie pushed the red button behind Arizona's bed before turning, picking Jess up and placing her on the bed next to Arizona. She then leant behind the bed and pulled the oxygen mask round, flicked the gas on and held it to Jess' face. She heard a nurse come in and Arizona tell them to page Dr. Foster 911 but other than that she focused solely on getting the little girl breathing properly again.

It took about five minutes for Jess' breathing to calm down to an acceptable level, by which time Dr. Foster had made his appearance and took over from Callie. Once her breathing had settled he ordered the nurse to take her back upstairs and he would be up shortly to run some tests. Callie and Arizona waved goodbye as Jess tried to wave, but failed, her coughing episode had taken all the energy out of her already frail body.

'She shouldn't have been down here.' Dr. Foster said simply as Jess was taken out of the room.

'She was just lonely Jarrad, she wasn't going to come to any harm in here with two surgeons.' Arizona defended their actions.

'Well she obviously did as she ended up on oxygen Dr. Robbins.'

'I think it might be wise for you to remember who your superior is.' Callie had stood up now and was stood in between her girlfriend and this _Jarrad_ whom she'd never really met before.

'Right now Dr. Robbins isn't working, therefore that puts me in charge, so Jess should _not_ have been here. ' Dr. Foster stood his ground.

'Look this isn't helping anyone, Jarrad, I'm sorry but you know that Jess and me have got close whilst she's been here, just go and make sure she's ok please?' Dr. Foster thought about refusing for a second, after all, in his eyes, he was the boss at the minute.

'Fine.' He turned on his heels and stalked off.

'Who the _hell_ is that guy?' Callie turned round to face Arizona, completely flabbergasted at the surgeon who had just left. 'He thinks he's God gift doesn't he? He'd give Mark a run for his money at any rate!'

'He's a good surgeon though and has really come through for me on some very tricky cases, he just had an attitude problem, kind of like Karev.'

'Karev's like a frigging cuddly bear compared to that beast!' Arizona laughed at Callie.

'He's right, she should have gone back to the ward.'

'No he's not right at all! It'll do her no good just staring at four walls all the time, you know how angry and bored you get, Jess is no different.'

'Yeah I know but she's not well enough for too much excitement.'

'Arizona, you saw the way her face lit up today and yesterday, that's better than any drug you pump into her.'

Arizona smiled, she knew Callie was right no matter how much she tried to deny it. 'I don't think Dr. Foster will be back here any time soon...bit too much Latino anger for his liking I would wager.'

'Ha you think I scared him?' Callie sat back down finally.

'Ummm I'd say he wouldn't be looking to stand up to you anytime soon.'

'Ha well he should stay out of my way, how dare he say you're not the boss?' Callie laughed. 'You're always the boss...' Callie winked now, showing that there was more meaning to her words than the literal sense.

'Haha well Calliope, the way you stood up to Dr. Foster did turn me on somewhat...' Arizona winked herself. Callie reached up and kissed Arizona passionately, both of them exploring each other with their tongue, revelling in the taste of one another once more. 'Think Bailey will tell you off too much if she finds you in my bed again in the morning?'

'Ahhhh I can take Bailey!' Callie kicked off her shoes and jumped onto Arizona's bed instantly finding her lips once more, enjoying the ease in which they had settled back into being a full-term couple once more.

_**A/N: so there we are, I'm not sure where I want to go with the Jess storyline...any suggestions? What do you guys want to see? **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Thank you all SOOO much for all the reviews that you've been giving me, I've really appreciated the enthusiasm and input from everyone. There were two main themes that seemed to be coming from you guys and I've made up my mind!**_

_**The storyline I've gone with was inspired from TWEEDLEDEE13; thank you for your input as always :D**_

**Couple of days later. **

Arizona woke up alone and yet she smiled; today she was going home. She had been cleared by Bailey, Teddy and her physician, and boy was she glad. Callie had left her at about four in the morning to answer a 911 page down to the pit, leaving with a swift kiss and a wink. Arizona stretched and winced, her wounds were still giving her pain when she overdid some movements; she would have to go home in a wheelchair and have crutches until her thigh healed fully. Using crutches though was problematic with the wound to her shoulder but she was determined to succeed.

It had been agreed that Callie would continue conducting her main exercise regime whilst she was at home but that she would have to come into the hospital twice a week to be fully checked over and have at least an hour-long session to check that she was still making progress.

She hadn't seen Jessica since the day that she had nearly coded in her patients room and Callie and her had been in serious trouble with Dr. Foster. Apparently Jess had recovered well from her coughing fit but her overall condition was worsening even more. Arizona had never been more determined to find a way to help a patient than she was where Jess was concerned. Maybe why that's why it took her so long to see the only way to save her life was staring her straight in the face.

The idea to help Jess had come at her like a bolt out of the blue and she had shared it with no one, not even Callie. She had to be sure first. Had to be sure that it would work one hundred percent before she got everyone's hopes up including her own.

She wanted to make sure of whether the plan would work before she left for home that day because she knew she wouldn't get a chance otherwise. Arizona swung her legs to the side of the bed and stood up, shifting very carefully onto her wounded leg she twisted into the wheelchair. It was only seven in the morning so she knew that the hospital would still be slightly quiet so she wheeled herself out and into the supply room, getting what she needed before she went into the toilet.

Once she had done what needed to be done she wheeled herself to the elevator and pressed the relevant buttons to go to the lab floor. When she got to the window she passed them across and told Hank to process them as quickly as possible, as Hank was a fan of the perky Head of Peads he put them at the top of the pile.

Arizona decided to wait for them as she didn't want to over-exert herself going back to her room and having to come back up again. Also waiting there meant there was less chance of one of her many friends or family seeing the results because then they would instantly know what she was planning. It took Hank an hour to push the results through and as he handed them over to Arizona he simply raised an eyebrow. When she just smiled and shook her head he understood to not press the matter and went back to his work.

Arizona wheeled herself back down to her room and once back inside she opened the envelope tentatively, scared at what this was about to mean for both her and Jess.

She stared at the page in her hands and smiled, this was what she had wanted to read. She had been ninety percent sure but knew that it had to be a hundred percent certainty so that when she proposed the idea she had all the evidence she needed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Callie creeping into the room without looking, she was on her tiptoes and pulling the funniest face Arizona had seen; she obviously thought Arizona would still be asleep. Arizona stifled her laugh and watched as Callie turned round in shock when she found the bed empty.

'Looking for something?' Arizona asked with a smirk on her lips. Callie jumped at her voice and laughed as she saw her sat in the chair at the side of the bed.

'I thought you'd be asleep! I didn't want to wake you, thought I'd just slide back in so you never knew I'd left.' Callie jumped on the bed and did her best star fish impression. She was exhausted after a seven-hour-long surgery that had thankfully been worth her efforts.

'Surgery go ok?' Arizona asked as she reached out and stroked Callie's hair, amused by her position.

'Yeah, some bloke decided it would be a good idea to see if he could fly...completely drunk...thirty broken bones, but he'll live to be stupid again.' Callie turned her head so she could face Arizona. 'So why are you up so early?'

'I had to go and do something...check something out.' Arizona said cryptically.

'Ummmm...ok...where did you go? You know you shouldn't push yourself babe...' Callie turned her whole body towards Arizona so she could concentrate on the blonde's reactions and what she was saying.

'Ok, I don't want you to get mad that I haven't told you, I just wanted to make sure that it was possible, and even though I sort of already knew I just wanted to make one hundred percent sure cause it's a big thing Calliope and I appreciate if you don't like the idea because it's out of the blue but it's something I want to do...something I need to do because medicine has failed me...and I'm out of ideas and I need to make it right...'

'Babe as much as I totally love your rambling, I seriously have no idea what you are on about.' Callie was concerned now at what was going to come out of the beautiful mouth.

'I'm a match Calliope...for Jess...' That was all Arizona had to say for Callie to know what she was intending. 'Both her blood and her marrow...I want to go and see Jarrad...I'm sorry.' Arizona didn't really know what else to say.

'Why are you sorry?' Callie asked confused.

'I don't know...I'm sorry for not telling you...I'm sorry for wanting to do it?'

'Arizona, you wouldn't be the woman I love if you didn't want to do this. I'll come and see Jarrad with you, we'll do this together.' Callie had got off of the bed now and was bent down in front of Arizona.

'Thank you,' Arizona couldn't say anymore as tears enveloped her, Callie instantly reached out and held her, not totally sure why she was so upset.

'Shush babe, it's ok.' Callie shushed her until the sobbing ceased. 'Why are you so upset sweetheart?'

'I d-don't know...I-i-i just thought you'd be madder?' Arizona didn't really know why she had doubted that Callie would do anything but support her.

'Baby, why would I be mad?' Callie was hurt that her girlfriend thought she would be anything but supportive.

'I don't know...I just thought that after getting shot and all it would be another thing to get through?' Arizona realised now how stupid she had been.

'Arizona, I love you more than anything, and I know how much you love Jess...to be honest with you since I've met Jess I've found myself fall in love with her...and seeing you with her...Arizona it's been _amazing_. I know how much it's hurt you not being able to find a donor and now you can do just that and save her life...and be so super amazing, in the only way that you, Arizona Robbins, my super girlfriend can be.' By the time Callie had finished her speech Arizona's tears had started again, Callie held her once more.

'Do you think Dr. Foster will let me? Will Bailey and Teddy?' Arizona asked Callie once she had calmed down.

'Ummm...I think Bailey and Teddy will want to make sure you are one hundred percent up to this physically babe...much like myself...you know the marrow extraction can be painful after it's done and you're already in pain when you try to walk.' Callie said. 'As for Dr. Foster, I'll leave that one up to you, I don't know the man...although from the moment he walked in here and shouted the odds at us, I can't say I've been his biggest fan.'

'I can't not do this Calliope.' Arizona said, trying to condone her actions once more.

'I know babe, you don't need to keep explaining it to me...I get it Arizona.' Callie smiled to show that was totally supportive of this plan.

'Thank you. I can't thank you enough for being so supportive through this Calliope.'

'Annnndddd I've already told you...you wouldn't be _you_ if you didn't do this and you're my girlfriend whom I happen to love rather a lot, hence it's ok, so stop saying thank you!'

Arizona just smiled and pulled on Callie's collar so that their lips could meet in a passionate kiss.

Callie helped Arizona get changed into her normal clothes so that they could up and see Dr. Foster before she was discharged. They wanted the answer yes or no from him before they asked Bailey and Teddy if Arizona was ok to do it. Arizona thought to herself that even if Jarrad did say no she would overrule him, and still then she would go to the Chief if she needed to go even further up the power-line at the hospital.

As Callie wheeled Arizona up to the Paediatric floor she felt nervous at what was about to happen. She didn't like this Jarrad bloke after the way he had spoken to them yesterday but she knew that she would have to be on her best behaviour to get him to agree to this. She didn't see how she could refuse but also knew that he would put up a fight just because he was an awkward man; he'd probably go down the patient/doctor line and how Arizona would cross it way too far if this donation and transplant went through.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Jess out of the corner of her eye as they entered the ward. Arizona hadn't seen her and Jess hadn't seen them and as Callie looked she felt even more certain that this was the right thing to do. Jess looked so sad and alone Callie just wanted to run over and scoop her up in her arms. She was sat in the corridor, a drip on her left side and her favourite teddy on the right side. Callie didn't know why she was sat in the chairs in the corridor but she thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest at the sight.

'Callie why have we stopped?' Arizona looked behind to Callie only to find her eyes were on something else, she followed her gaze and smiled when she saw she was staring at Jess.

'Do we have time to say hello before we see Foster?' Callie asked, her eyes still on the little girl.

'Always.' Arizona answered in a whisper as Callie wheeled her off towards Jess. Jess saw them coming before they reached her and instantly a huge smile broke on her face. She gently got to her feet and walked cautiously as she pushed her drip alongside with her.

'Zona and Callleeeeee...' She tripped as she tried to walk to fast to her two favourite people. Callie rushed round and picked her up to her feet, making sure she was ok and that her drip was still attached.

'Are you ok sweetie?' Arizona asked when she reached them.

'Yes, fank you...silly wheels get in my way...' She said as an explanation before looking up at both Callie and Arizona, both were beaming at her which instantly made her feel a lot better. 'Where ave you been?'

'We've been downstairs sweetheart, Dr. Foster needed to make sure you were ok and I was told that I had to stay in my bed so I could get fully better remember.' Arizona smiled.

'Are you better now?' Jess asked sadly as she knew what that would mean.

'I am kind of better now yes.'

'So you are going home now?' Jess asked, looking down to the floor.

'Yes, I can go home tonight. But it's ok Jess I'll still come in and visit you, cause I have to come back to the hospital for my recovery sessions.'

Jess smiled at that, at least she would get to see Dr. Zona and Callie every now and then at least.

'Why are you sat out here in the corridor anyway Jess?' Callie now asked, she was bent down in front of Arizona and next to Jess who turned and looked her in the eye.

'I was bored...no one comes and visits me except you and Dr. Zo...' Callie felt her eyes well up at the sadness in the little girl's voice but she quickly wiped them away so she didn't see.

'Well me and Arizona have to just go and do something and then we'll come back and have another round of Monopoly. How does that sound?' Callie asked.

'Can we have teas and cakes too?' Jess asked, a smile covering her whole face now.

'Yes of course, now you go back to your room, set up the game and we'll be back in a bit ok sweetie?' Callie almost burst as Jess threw herself at her, hugging her tight, before doing the same to Arizona and walking off as fast as the drip would allow her to her room.

'God that kid has my heart.' Callie said as she watched her go.

'Yeah, she's something special isn't she?' Arizona said, placing her hand on Callie's shoulder.

'Yeah, bit like the other woman in my life that has my heart.' Callie grinned as she turned round and reached up so she could kiss Arizona. Arizona returned the kiss with all her heart; hearing Callie talk how she did about both herself and Jess was enough to make her fall more in love with her each time.

Callie got up and wheeled Arizona back to where they were intending to go in the first place. Knocking on Dr. Fosters door they went in.

'Dr. Robbins...Dr. Torres...what can I do for you?' Jarrad looked up from the charts he was finishing briefly to take in the two women who were disturbing him. He wasn't too sure what to expect.

'I need to talk to you about Jessica Jarrad.' Arizona met his eyes; she knew this was going to be an interesting conversation to have.

'Dr. Robbins I can assure you that I'm doing everything I can for that patient, I know you're close to her but I don't like people coming in here telling me how to do my job.'

'Jarrad, I am your superior. I know you have loved this whole I'm in charge routine but I'm getting better and within a few weeks I will be back and I will be your boss once more. I may not be back performing surgeries but I will be in charge of your ass and I will be able to do with it what I please. I have not come here to tell you how to do your _job_, I have come here to tell you that I have found a donor for Jessica.' Arizona took a deep breath as she finished, Callie just stood there slightly open-mouthed as she had gone to defend Arizona before she had brilliantly done it herself.

'You've found her a donor?' Jarrad was actually glad to hear this news, he didn't want the kid to die. 'Where? Who is it?'

'Me.' Arizona said simply.

'You?' Jarrad threw his hands up in the air and then slammed them onto his desk. 'How do you know you're a match?'

'I did the tests this morning.'

'You ran tests on _yourself_?'

'Yes, I thought I would be a match as we share the same blood group but I wanted to make sure with the bone marrow.'

'And you think I can authorise such a thing?' Jarrad wasn't sure whether this was a breach of the line between the patient and the doctor but it sure as hell sounded like it to him.

'If you don't, I will go to the Chief.' Arizona said very calmly.

'And you think he will authorise it?'

'Yes, I do, because if this process doesn't happen now, that little girl will be dead in a month.'

'I can make her live longer.' Jarrad said, wanting to re-assert his own authority on the situation.

'No you can't Jarrad so don't bring arrogance into this...'

'Arrogance? Excuse me Dr. Robbins but you're the one being arrogant here, walking in like you own the place and stating that you will be making a donation to _my_ patient...you're not working at the minute and I...'

'You could what Dr. Foster?' Callie spoke for the first time now. 'Because if the end of that sentence is a threat to my girlfriend then I'd rethink that because... I. Will. Hurt. You.'

Arizona chuckled very quietly as Callie moved in front of her as a protective gesture.

'I'm not threatening anyone here, I'm just saying this is out of line, it breaches all sort of stuff ethically...'

'This isn't about fucking ethics Jarrad! This is about saving Jessica's _life_.' Arizona was getting annoyed now that he wasn't budging at all.

'That's it I'm paging the Chief.' With that comment Jarrad turned on his heel and slammed the office door shut behind him.

'I seriously hate that bloke you know.' Callie said as soon as he had left. 'Can't I just punch him and be done with it?'

'He's just...covering his back...oh I don't know Calliope, I give up with him, he's an asshole I agree.' Arizona admitted defeat, she was fed up defending the guy who so obviously disrespecting what they were trying to do.

Within five minutes Jarrad was back, closely followed by Richard Webber; his face was unreadable and Callie moved next to Arizona and took her hand.

'Hello ladies.' Richard greeted his two surgeons, who greeted him warmly in return. 'What's the situation?'

'I want to donate my blood and bone marrow to Jessica Flynn, she's five years old and has had Leukaemia for the past three years of life. Her parents were killed in a car crash on the way to the hospital two months ago, her Dad had donated blood and marrow but it didn't work, she's at the top of the donor list but she has no time left. She's dying Richard.' Arizona finished sadly, looking for the first time into the eyes of her boss.

Richard surveyed his Head of Peds for a minute, she was one of his favourite surgeons that worked for him, and he had great respect for the woman. Also Callie was another of his personal favourites; Dr. Foster however, he had had hardly anything to do with him as such he instantly found himself on their side, but he knew he had to remain impartial as the Chief.

'Dr. Foster?' Richard turned to hear his side of the story.

'I think it's completely unethical if Dr. Robbins is responsible for saving her life by donation...she's her doctor not her mother.' Jarrad finished simply. Those words caused Callie's hand to ball into a fist whilst Arizona looked up at him in a slightly hurt manner.

Before either woman could speak Richard spoke, 'Dr. Foster, do you want the child to die?'

'What? Of course not, that's a preposterous accusation!'

'Well then you'll let Arizona donate the blood and marrow, without it this patient is going to be dead within the next couple of weeks.' He turned to the grinning Arizona and Callie. 'On the condition that Bailey and Altman give you the all clear physically Arizona I will ok this procedure, just be careful and don't push yourself please.' Richard placed a hand on Arizona's shoulder as he left the room, a smile forming on his lips as he knew he had made the right decision.

Back in Dr. Foster's office there was an awkward silence as the three surgeons remaining in the room surveyed each other. 'Well that's that then. Go and get your clearance and we'll book you and Jess in for the procedures asap.' Jarrad didn't say anymore or any less than he needed to and left without a goodbye, he was pissed that he had been overruled to do something that he thought breached all sorts of rules ethically, but secretly he was just happy that Jess was going to live.

'Jackass.' Callie said as the door closed behind them. 'I swear if I ever have to work with him in an OR I think my hand will just slip when I'm brandishing my scalpel.'

'Callie...' Arizona chuckled at her girlfriend.

Callie bent down in front of her girlfriend. 'You're going to save her life babe.'

Arizona smiled broadly as they kissed before they went round to Jess' room and underwent an intense round of Monopoly.

A few hours later Callie was taking Arizona back down to her room after Jess had fallen asleep after winning Monopoly much to Arizona's distress. They hadn't told her about what had just been decided about her future, they didn't want to distress or worry her. When they got back into Arizona's room Teddy was already in there looking agitated as she had seemingly lost her best friend.

'Oh there you are! Where the hell have you been? Every time I've come in here to discharge you you've not been here! I was starting to think my patient had gone AWOL! I'll page Bailey.' Teddy finished her mild rant as she pulled out her pager and sent one out to Bailey.

'We've been upstairs on the Peds word sorry.' Arizona explained as Callie helped her onto the bed so Teddy could examine her. 'We need to talk to you about something actually...well you and Bailey.'

'Oh?' Teddy raised her eyebrows as she wondered what the couple could need to talk to both her and Bailey about. Before anyone could answer Bailey whirled into the room as only Bailey could.

'Well better late than never!' She said as she greeted the three other women in the room.

'Hang on Miranda, apparently these pair need to talk to us about something...' Teddy gestured to Callie and Arizona.

'Oh right, what's that?' Miranda turned to the couple.

'You remember Jess who we met on the day of the Memorial service?' Teddy and Bailey nodded their heads. 'Well she's running out of time and she needs a donor...I'm a match and I...we want to do this so I just need the all clear from you two physically?' Arizona spoke quickly.

Both Teddy and Bailey stood, mouths open as they processed what Arizona had just said.

Callie laughed at this; 'But seriously guys, is Arizona fit enough to do it and to recover afterwards?'

'Well let's do our examination that we planned to do and then we can discuss whether you can go home and then whether you can go through with that procedure.'

Teddy and Bailey both examined Arizona's wounds as they all discussed what they had done in the day. Once they had finished they stepped back and just looked at each other whilst Callie and Arizona waited patiently for their diagnosis.

'Well...I'd say, you can go home right now, and I don't want you to argue, you are to go straight home please. Tomorrow you can come back and talk it through with whomever you need to about the donation process, just take it easy whilst your doing it and afterwards. Just remember that your body's already recovering from trauma so it might take longer for you to recover from the marrow extraction.' Bailey gave her diagnosis.

'Really? I'm ok to do it?' Arizona asked, eager to get clarification.

'Yes,' Teddy smiled. 'Your wounds are healing up nicely, like Miranda says, go home tonight, take it easy and sort it all out tomorrow.'

'Thanks guys.' Callie and Arizona said together as Bailey and Teddy left the room.

Callie turned and met Arizona's own smile with one of her own as she lifted Arizona off of the bed and into her chair. Callie wheeled Arizona out of the hospital with a broad smile on both their lips, they were going home.

Arizona smiled as she walked into Callie's apartment, Callie instantly ran around picking up clothes that she had thrown around the living room.

'Calliope...' Arizona said as she watched her rushing around.

'Yeah?' She stopped and looked at Arizona.

'Come here.' Arizona beckoned her to her, as soon as they met they kissed passionately as they ran their hands over each other's bodies, reacquainting themselves with the body's that they had missed so much.

'Arizona...Teddy and Bailey said you needed to rest.' Despite the definite wetness she could feel building, she didn't want Arizona to push herself.

'I am...I will...after...this...' Arizona said each word in between kisses that she planted down Callie's neck, she didn't care that she had been told to rest, she just wanted to make love to her girlfriend for the first time in a very long time.

Callie lost all resolve and let a moan escape her mouth as she lifted Arizona in her arms and carried her into the bedroom where she laid her gently on the bed as she traced her fingers delicately over Arizona's form.

'Too many clothes...' Arizona breathed as she tried to pull of her own clothes and winced as a pain shot through her shoulder.

'Baby, look...'

'No, Calliope, I want to make love to you, you've just got to help me with these clothes...'

Callie didn't need any more encouragement than that and gently pulled Arizona's top and pants off of her before quickly whipping of her own.

'Go I've missed this so much.' Callie breathed into Arizona's ear as she gently placed herself on top of her, taking care not to lean on her sensitive areas.

'Mmmmm, I've missed you too...' Arizona said back as she ran her hands up and down Callie's curved body, squeezing her ass as she did.

'God Arizona...you make me crazy...' Callie grinned as she kissed Arizona's own smile. Callie ran her hands all over Arizonza's body, following the pattern her fingers were tracing with soft kisses. She reached behind Arizona's back and flicked her bra clasp with one hand as she removed it and kissed her breasts.

Arizona let out a moan as she felt the wetness building between her legs, wanting to feel Callie's she traced her hands back along Callie's body, flicked her own bra off and began to knead her breasts. Callie groaned into Arizona's breasts as she bit lightly into her skin leaving her mark. Arizona continued tracing her fingers and eventually found what she wanted as her fingers met Callie's wet core. Callie, feeling Arizona's touch, instantly sat back, took of her own and Arizona's knickers before regaining her position back where she was before.

'Calliope...please...'

'Please what?' Callie teased her girlfriend as she kissed around Arizona's stomach and thighs.

'Touch me...please...' Arizona was gasping and raising her hips, craving the Latino's touch like never before.

Callie smiled and didn't wait long to kiss Arizona's core which brought another, louder, moan from the blonde's lips. Callie circled her tongue around Arizona's clit before delving her tongue between her wet lips enjoying the taste of her.

'Come here,' Arizona gasped as she pulled Callie upwards so that she could kiss her hard and do her own exploring with her fingers. Callie copied her girlfriend's movements, not wasting any time in pushing two fingers inside of her. Arizona bucked her hips and bit Callie's lip as she felt the fingers inside of her, she mirrored the movement, pushing her own two fingers inside of Callie.

Both women began to rock back and forwards, moving their hips and fingers at one with each other, their wetness' building as they merged into one.

'A-a-arizona-a...' Callie could hardly speak as she felt her orgasm building; Arizona felt the same surge building within her own body and wrapped her free arm around Callie's back pulling them, if possible, closer together. Both women sped up the movement of their fingers, both hitting that one spot that they had only been able to find since making love to each other.

As one their orgasms crashed over them both, both women moaning loudly, their orgasms intensifying as they felt the other orgasming at the same time.

Once they had both come down off their high Callie crawled off of Arizona and picked the duvet up off of the floor, draping it over them both. Arizona turned on her side and cuddled in close to her Calliope, wrapping her arm around her waist and resting her head into Callie's neck. Callie kissed her head as she pulled her in tight.

'I love you Arizona Robbins.'

'And I love you Calliope Torres, with all my heart.'


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: So I am soooooooo sorry for the wait for this update, I've been on holiday in the middle of a field with no access to anything so here we go, hope you're still with me :D **_

Callie woke up the next day disorientated at first, she had spent the last couple of months waking up in the hospital, either in an on call room or in Arizona's hospital room and when she opened her eyes to neither she forgot where she was for a second. Then she looked down to the blonde hair in her arms and smiled, she was at home with her Arizona safely in her arms. Kissing the blonde locks she snuggled in closer to her back revelling in the feeling of having her back in their bed. She thought to what lay ahead for them that day; even though Arizona had just got home she would be back at the hospital donating her bone marrow for Jess today. If Callie was completely honest with herself she was scared stiff at what would lay in store, she was scared that it wouldn't work and Jess would die, she was scared that it would be too much trauma for Arizona's already frail body and also a part of her was scared that this would make Jess all better and she would be released from the hospital and they'd never see her again. She'd grown quite attached to the little girl.

Arizona stirred as she could practically hear Callie's thoughts threatening to spill out of her head. She rolled over and winced as she put weight on her hip and shoulder.

'Babe?' Callie was instantly awake fully as she heard Arizona cry out in pain.

'It's fine, just put too much weight on my hip and shoulder...ouch.' Arizona settled back into a comfortable position, this time facing Callie, the concern evident in the brown orbs.

'Are you sure you're going to be ok to do this today Arizona? Maybe it could wait a week?'

'Jess doesn't have a week Cal, you've seen her chart...today we will go in and I guarantee you she'll be ten times worse than she was yesterday...I've seen it happen to too many kids before and I am not going to sit and watch it happen to Jess.' Arizona voice was filled with determination but at the same time a distinct hint of fear laced her words.

'Ok, ok, but you have to promise that if it's too much...at any point in the day, you'll just tell me and we'll stop...ok?' Callie furrowed her brow in concern.

'Yes Calliope...I promise. Are you working today?'

'Nope, I booked the week off to be with you through this and the recovery afterwards.' Callie hadn't told Arizona she'd booked the week off, not wanting her to think she was overreacting.

'Oh, you didn't have to do that Calliope, but I'm glad you did.' Arizona smiled, flashing the dimples that Callie loved so much.

...

Callie and Arizona dressed, had breakfast and sat drinking coffee, both were glad to be back to some sort of normalcy even though they were far from that. The truth is they never would go back to the couple they were before the shooting, but this would be in a very good way; they were closer now...stronger.

Callie wheeled Arizona to the hospital as she was in no fit state to start walking long distances. Once inside they headed straight up to the Peds ward, they planned to pop in and see Jess before heading in to see Jarrad. Callie wheeled Arizona through the door quietly as it was still quite early in the morning and most of the ward was still dark and quiet. Jess' room light was on and when they walked in they could instantly see why; her sheets were all crumpled up on the bed, they were wet with what looked like sick and they could hear the sounds of retching coming from the toilet attached to the room.

Callie instantly walked towards the toilet and felt her heart break slightly as she saw Jess' hunched little body leant against the toilet as she threw up the contents of her stomach. A nurse was with her but Callie gestured that she would take over so the nurse could clean up the bed before Jess needed it again. Jess registered that the hands holding her changed, they were stronger but at the same time were more caring as they stroked what was left of hair out of the way of her sweaty face.

After about ten minutes the vomiting ceased and Callie washed her face gently before lifting her up and carrying her back out to her main room. As she placed her back into the bed Arizona saw Jess for the first time and gasped in shock. The difference between yesterday and today was so awfully clear. Jess was pale, sweaty and had obviously not slept all night; the remainder of her blonde locks were messy and plastered to her face. For the first time since Arizona had started treating Jess she looked like the Leukaemia was winning.

Callie pulled Jess' fresh blankets up around her little body and attached the two new drips that the nurse had brought in. She worked gently but quickly, not wanting to cause Jess any more pain than she was obviously experiencing. Once she had finished she sat down in the chair next to Arizona and reached out to grip her hand. She turned and saw that tears were filling Arizona's eyes, although she was blinking furiously to stop them from falling, not wanting to cry in front of Jess.

'C-c-ca-al-l...' Jess' voice was so quiet and raspy and as soon as she'd spoken she coughed. Callie was once again instantly on her feet and pulled the oxygen mask round and attached it around Jess' head.

'Just breath sweetheart, don't talk, just get some sleep.' Callie smiled as she placed her hand on top of Arizona's which had reached out to clasp Jessica's as she looked terrified.

'She needs an oxygen tube fitting will you tell a nurse?' Arizona looked at Callie, whom just nodded and left the room.

Arizona edged her chair closer to Jess and smiled as their eyes met, even through the pain Jess did her best to smile. 'Hey sweetie, you just rest...we're going to make you better...' Arizona went to say 'I promise' but stopped herself, she couldn't promise that. She continued to stroke Jess' hand as she fell into sleep easily and even when the nurse came in with Callie to fit the oxygen tube she didn't so any sign of waking up.

'She's so tired.' Arizona said simply.

'I can't believe how much worse she is in one day...' Callie regained her grip on Arizona's hand.

'I know...but that's what kids are like, they change in an instant, they're resilient for much longer than adults but then when they take a turn for the worse it's a lot harsher...more noticeable...' Arizona saw it all the time, but this case was having a personal effect on her as much as she tried to deny it.

'Let's go see Jarrad whilst she's asleep babe, we can come back later.' Callie gave Jess' hand a squeeze as did Arizona and they left as quietly as they had come, both even more determined to help this little girl.

They waited outside the main office in Peds as Dr. Foster was in an emergency surgery, both sat in silence for a while as their thoughts went straight to the little girl they had just left.

'She has to get better. This has to work.' Arizona said in a very dead-pan voice as she stared straight ahead at the wall in front of her.

Callie looked towards Arizona and saw that she was scared, no terrified, that this wasn't going to work. 'It'll be ok Arizona, we'll help Jess get through this...' Callie didn't really know what to say, she was an ortho surgeon, she didn't know Leukaemia...she knew bone cancer, she'd helped cure bone cancer...but Leukaemia, in a five year old girl? This was a horrific new challenge for Callie.

Arizona didn't reply, she knew this was hard for Callie to see Jess go from being ok to being so ill. It was hellish enough for Arizona and she'd seen it before. They had to wait about half an hour for Dr. Foster to come out of surgery and in that time they both remained very quiet, lost in their own thoughts but both united in the determination to win this fight, their hands locked together.

'Ladies.' Jarrad opened the door to his office and signalled for them to follow. 'Take a seat Dr. Torres.' He proceeded to pull Jessica's huge lump of a file out of a drawer to the left of his desk and placed it on the table; he'd decided to try and be nice to Arizona Robbins, she was going to be in charge of his ass in a few weeks after all.

'She seems a lot worse today?' Callie made her statement into a question.

'Yes, Jess' stats and vitals dropped like a stone over the course of last night, we've pumped her full of meds but she's just throwing them back up because of the chemo and radiotherapy. It's a viscous circle.' Jarrad finished sadly.

'Is the cancer not responding to the chemo anymore?' Arizona already knew the answer from the charts she'd read whilst she was in Jess' room but she needed to hear it out loud.

'It's keeping her white blood cell count down to an acceptable level but it's not doing anything to cure Jess anymore, the side-effects of the chemo are winning.'

'So can we do this today?' Arizona put her game face on.

'I believe we can, I've spoken to both Dr. Bailey and Dr. Altman just this morning about your injuries Arizona, both cleared you physically; I've also spoken to Dr. Hammond and he's happy that even with your injuries from the shooting you'll be able to undergo the bone marrow donation as you're still in your wheel chair. Obviously I don't have to tell you how much this will hurt, it's a big needle going into a sensitive area...just make sure you're ready mentally for this, if needs be we can wait another day or two.'

'Does Jess have another day or two?' Callie asked.

'No, the longer we wait, the less likely it is for the donation to work. It needs to happen today.' Arizona spoke like the Head of department that she was.

'Yes, I agree with Dr. Robbins. This should happen today. Dr. Hammond will do the procedure himself, I told him it was you, so once we're done here you need to go down to oncology, book yourself in as outpatient, you're on the OR books.'

'That's great, thanks Jarrad.' Arizona said mechanically.

'Will you operate on Jess today?' Callie asked.

'Yes, I've booked an OR for later this afternoon, I don't think Jess can wait any longer if she's going to make a full recovery, I'm afraid.'

A silence descended on the trio whilst each surgeon collected their thoughts about what they were going to have to do and see during the day. Arizona made to leave, wanting to get down and check-in so she could get the procedure out of the way.

'Arizona?' She turned, shocked at Jarrad using her first name, he was always very strict about using surnames when addressing fellow surgeons. 'What you're doing...it's good...it's brave...I'll be glad when your back as head of this department.' Jarrad felt stupid for what he had just said but he felt he needed to, he had a lot of respect for Arizona, even though he didn't always show it, she had mentored him and gave him a chance when a lot of people hadn't.

'Thanks Jarrad, I'll be back sooner than you know.' Arizona smiled warmly and let Callie push her from the room and towards the elevators.

Callie and Arizona rode the elevator in silence and entered the oncology ward. After checking in at the front desk, a nurse showed them to Arizona's room and left them to get settled saying that Dr. Hammond would be in shortly to go through the days' events.

'Eurgh, a day out of one of these has made me realise how itchy they are!' Arizona complained as she began to fidget as Callie slipped the hospital gown over her girlfriend's torso.

'You pull it off quite well though...' Callie said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed giving Arizona a wink.

'Ewwww you cannot tell me that you find me attractive in this thing?' Arizona joked, enjoying the light-heartedness that existed between the couple despite the seriousness of the day.

'Babe, I find you god damn sexy in anything you wear.' Callie's voice came out husky as she kissed Arizona and helped her swing her legs into the bed.

'Well I suppose...when you had chicken pox, even you in gauze paws didn't put me off.' Arizona winked as Callie laughed at the memory of that day.

Their laughter was interrupted as Dr. Hammond knocked on the door and walked in followed by Bailey and Christina Yang.

'What are you doing in here Christina?' Callie asked before anyone had the cnace to speak.

'I'm on Bailey's service today. Besides, I have to make sure my two favourite lesbians have the best care possible...and as I am the best resident, that's what you'll get!' Everyone in the room collapsed in laughter at Christina and although it wasn't mentioned, the fact remained that ever since the shooting Christina had taken it upon herself to check Arizona's charts and make sure she was ok when the attending's weren't around. Although she would never admit it, Christina had developed a soft spot for the couple and she didn't want to ever see Callie in the state she had been when they were broken up and when Arizona had nearly died at the hands of Gary Clark.

'Arizona, I'm Dr. Hammond, I'll be performing the marrow extraction on yourself today. I've asked Dr. Bailey to oversee you're aftercare and to do your initial exam as she knows your case and the existing injuries you have.'

Arizona nodded in understanding, glad that she wasn't going to be surrounded by many staff that she didn't know.

'Ok, so I'll just briefly talk over the procedure with you, I don't want to insult your intelligence but as your usually on the other end of the proceedings I need to make sure you understand completely what's going to happen.' When Arizona nodded once more, Dr. Hammond continued with his description. 'So the marrow cells will be collected from the backside of the pelvic bone, you'll have a general anaesthetic around the area of the needle site but I'm afraid that you'll still experience some pain when the needle meets the bone. It should only take an hour to collect the marrow cells needed and once the anaesthetics worn off we'll give you some morphine...probably in your case will give you an IV as your body's still recovering but all being well we'll have you in your own bed tonight. As you know you'll most likely experience some pain for a week or two but as you'll be on pain meds and rest from your shooting injuries that will be controlled along with them. Is that all ok and clear?'

Arizona nodded once more, taking in all that Dr. Hammond had said.

'And you're sure her recovery or her overall health won't be compromised by donating the marrow?' Callie's voice sounded out as she gripped Arizona's hand.

'I'm sure Dr. Torres, the pain will be there as it is for any other marrow donator, but after a week Arizona shouldn't feel any affects from this.' Dr. Hammond smiled warmly trying to reassure his patient. 'Now if you'll excuse me I have a couple of other patients to check in on. Dr. Yang here will be getting you ready for the procedure and Dr. Bailey will be around too if you feel you need to ask any more questions or want a higher dose of pain meds.' With that he left the four women to it.

'Right I just want to check your other injuries over ok?' Bailey stepped forwards.

'Yeah that's fine Miranda.' Bailey worked gently but quickly checking all of Arizona's wounds. 'Ok these are all looking good although the one on your shoulder looks a little worn around the edges...you do anything you shouldn't last night?'

Both Arizona and Callie's cheeks were suddenly a definite shade of red. Bailey on seeing this promptly shook her head with wide eyes; 'I don't want to know.' Christina chuckled as she began to fit Arizona's tubes and take her vitals.

'When me and Dr. Altman say take it easy, we mean take it easy...just...don't over-exert yourself too soon Arizona.' Bailey said the words with a hint of warning but also with a hint of a smirk playing on her lips. With that she left, instructing Yang to prep Arizona for the procedure and page her if there were any problems.

'So, how's the pain?' Christina asked. 'Worth the hot sex?'

'Christina!' Callie scolded their friend but found herself laughing along with Arizona, both of them remembering the events of the night before with a wry smile.

Christina left the room shortly afterwards to go and get the room ready for the marrow extraction leaving Callie and Arizona alone once more.

'I can't believe Bailey just reprimanded us for having sex!' Callie chuckled as she kicked her shoes off and climbed into the bed next to Arizona so she could hold her properly.

'I know! I'm not even in pain from it!' Arizona laughed with Callie and settled into her embrace, never growing tired of being in Callie's arms.

'You feeling ok about today?' Callie asked as she stroked the blonde's locks and softly kissed the top of her head.

'Yeah, I just hope it's not too late...I hope it saves Jess.' Arizona said sadly.

'Me too babe, me too.' Callie whispered silently offering up a prayer to her God, asking once more that a woman in her life that she loved dearly would win the fight against death.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: So if you read my other story (A hard road back) then you'll probably have seen that I'm struggling to update regularly as I'm now back at uni and as I'm in my final year the work load is pretty ridiculous, anyway, I've had a brief chance to update and so here we go.**_

_**Thanks for sticking with me, if you're still here! **_

'Ok, are you ready Arizona?' Dr Hammond asked as he positioned himself ready to insert the needle.

Arizona nodded her head and firmed her grip on Callie's hand.

'Yeah she's ready.' Callie signalled for Dr. Hammond to proceed. Callie, knelt down so that she could look into Arizona's eyes and reassure her that everything would be ok.

As Dr. Hammond pushed the needle straight in Arizona winced in pain and felt tears prick her eyes. Callie felt helpless but tried her best to comfort her girlfriend, running her hands through her hair with one hand whilst holding onto Arizona's with the other.

The procedure was over as quickly as possible; Dr. Hammond working quickly to avoid keeping Arizona in too much pain for too long. 'All done Arizona.' He announced as he placed a small band-aid over the place the needle had entered her body.

'You were amazing babe.' Callie said as she kissed the top of Arizona's head as she helped her to sit up.

'I don't feel amazing.' Arizona mumbled as she awkwardly moved herself back into the wheelchair.

'Right, let's get you back to the ward so we can hook you up to some drugs.' Christina moved forward now, taking charge of the wheelchair and wheeling Arizona back down to her room.

'Calliope?'

'Yes babe?'

'Go and see Jess.' Arizona said it as an order more than a question or suggestion.

'Ari...'

'She needs someone to explain it to her, she'll be scared and she trusts you; I don't want her to see me like this, in obvious pain...please...Callie this could be the last...' Arizona couldn't finish that sentence.

'Don't Ari...' Callie didn't like the way that Arizona was talking.

'Just please go and see her Cal?' Arizona asked, the tears falling down her face. 'Christina's looking after me.'

'Yeah, I've got her Cal, I might not give her a kiss, but I'll hold her hand if she needs it.' To the average person walking past it would sound like Christina was joking, but to those that knew her, this was Christina being her most sincere.

'Ok, but I'm coming back when she's gone into surgery.' Callie said defiantly. 'I love you.' Kissing Arizona, she left them too it.

'Love you too Calliope.' Arizona wiped her tears away as Christina wheeled her back into her room.

'She'll be ok Arizona.' Christina said with conviction. Arizona wasn't sure whether she was taking about Callie or Arizona, but she just prayed that Christina was right on both counts.

XX

Callie rounded onto the peds ward and saw Jarrad stood against the reception.

'How is she Jarrad?'

'No better than earlier I'm afraid. Arizona?' Jarrad asked.

'She's good, just finished so I suppose you'll be heading into surgery soon?'

'Yeah, I was just about to explain to Jess what's going to happen.'

'Do you mind if I do it?' Callie asked. 'It's just this is going to freak her out, and...'

'And she's not too fond of me?' Jarrad smiled through his words. 'It's fine, I know she doesn't like me too much, your girlfriend is a tough act to follow.' Jarrard signalled that Callie should continue.

Callie silently opened the door knowing that Jess would probably be asleep.

'Cal..' Jess tried to say Callie's name but her breath gave out before she could finish.

'Hey sweetheart,' Callie moved round and pushed herself up onto the bed, letting Jess settle into her crook. 'Look Jess, I need to talk to you about something and I don't want you to get scared or worry about it ok?'

Jess nodded so that Callie knew that she had heard her. 'Ok, well in a bit Dr. Foster is going to come in and take you to go and have some special medicine that we think will help you get better.'

'I don't want Dr. Fost...' Jess began.

'Shhh, he's trying to help you Jess, I'm going to come with you ok?' She felt Jess nod again. 'And then when you wake up Arizona and me will be here ok?' Jess nodded once more.

'Where Ari...'

'Well you know I told you about the special medicine?' When Callie felt the movement of Jess' head she continued once more. 'Well Arizona's getting that medicine for you. She'll be here when you wake up, with me too.'

'Awlways?' Jess asked.

'What was that Jess?' Callie asked, confused at what she was asking.

'You and Ari...awlways there when I wakes up?' Callie couldn't stop the tears from falling at those words. What could she say? Could she promise her that? 'Cal?'

'If you want me and Arizona to be there every time you wake up then I think we can try and make that happen.' Callie said, careful with her wording.

'Pwomise?'

'I promise we will try.' Callie said, again not wanting to fill the little girl with false hope. Jess seemed to accept this answer and snuggled in harder to Callie's side. Meanwhile Callie's head was working in overdrive; she needed to talk to Arizona. Could they possibly adopt this little girl that they had both grown to love so much? Did she have a place in their lives?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jarrad entered the room. 'You all set?'

'Yeah we're good, is it ok if I walk down with her though?'

'Course.' Jarrad replied, as he went to go and get ready for the surgery. The nurses came in along with Alex Karev to wheel her down to the surgery.

Callie held her hand the whole way and when they reached the OR doors, she gave Jess' hand a squeeze, 'I'll see you after sweetheart, be brave.'

Jess just nodded, not having the energy to do anything more.

'You take care of her Karev.' Callie said as she turned and walked away eager to go and see Arizona.

XX

Arizona was twiddling her thumbs, she'd sent Callie to see Jess an hour and a half ago and it was driving her mad that she couldn't be there with them too. Christina had stayed with her until she got paged and although Arizona had tried to sleep, she just couldn't, therefore she was relieved when Callie came bustling into the room.

'Hey babe.' Callie greeted the blonde with a kiss. 'Right I need to just go straight into this because otherwise I'm not going to say it, and I need to. I was just explaining to Jess and she got scared so I told her it would be ok because we would both be there when she woke up and then she asked me if we would be there always, be there every time she woke up and it got me thinking, you know, why not? Why not be there every time she wakes up, whether it's for another month or whether it's for the rest of her life, why can't we be her parents? And I know that we'll have to wait a bit and you know we should probably get married so that we show that we're committed or something, I mean I want to marry you anyway and that wasn't probably the best way to bring that one up, but anyway I think we should adopt Jess.'

Once Callie had finished she took a deep breath and just stood there, playing back what she had just said in her head, realising she had probably just asked Arizona to marry her in a roundabout kind of way as well as suggesting they operate a child who was possibly about to die in theatre.

'Ok so maybe that all came out in an insane ramble and you can say no but...'

'Calliope.' Arizona spoke finally, she had needed time to process what Callie was saying. 'You want to adopt Jess?'

'Yeah...I just think that...'

'Calliope.' Arizona stopped her before she could set off on another ramble again. 'Let's do it.' Arizona said simply, she didn't really know what else to say, Callie had knocked her for six, in a good way.

'Really?'

'Yeah, I can't think of anything I'd want to do more, even if the transplant doesn't work at least we can give her a comfortable and happy last couple of months.' Arizona couldn't hide the tears falling down her face.

'Oh Ari...' Callie climbed onto the bed and the couple embraced like they never had before, kissing with so much passion.

'Let's just get Jess through today and then we'll go from there.' Arizona said into Callie's shoulder. 'Oh and as far as marriage proposals go...' Arizona couldn't help but chuckle as she felt Callie tense up beneath her.

'Yeah, didn't mean for that one to come out like that...' Callie admitted, of course she wanted to marry Arizona, but she had seen it as a very romantic proposal. 'You like the idea though?' Callie couldn't help herself.

'How could I not like the idea of a day with you in a gorgeous dress signalling that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together?' Arizona said; her smile lighting up the whole room as the image formed in her head.

Callie mirrored Arizona's smile as she leaned in for another kiss. 'I love you Ari.'

'I love you too Calliope, more than I can say.'

Their kiss was only interrupted when Bailey came into the room with Christina. 'God you two are like horny teenagers!' Christina joked.

'Sorry guys.' Callie blushed as she removed herself from the bed allowing the other doctors in the room to do their job.

'Right, I just want to check the needle site please Arizona.' Bailey prodded gently at the site, causing Arizona to wince slightly. 'Sorry sweety.' Bailey apologised knowing that it was tender. 'Right, you can go now.'

'Really?' Callie's voice sounded, concerned that Arizona was getting discharged too soon.

'Yes, it's doing you two no good being here when we all know you'd rather be waiting for that little girl.' Bailey said knowingly. 'Just stay in the wheelchair whilst your here and use the crutches carefully when you're at home, not that you will be there tonight.' Bailey knew that the couple would be staying by Jess' bedside until she woke up. 'Just put some ice on it if it's sorer than usual.' With that Bailey signed the relevant forms and left with Christina saying her goodbyes as well.

Arizona got dressed as quickly as she could with Callie's help, both of them eager to find out what was going on with Jess. They knew that she wouldn't be out of surgery yet so they headed to the OR gallery. When they entered they were surprised to find both Mark and Teddy there.

'What are you two doing here?' Callie asked as she sat down next to them, Arizona in the wheelchair on her other side.

'We wanted to see how she was.' Mark said simply. For both Callie and Arizona it meant a lot that each of their best friends had used their free time to check on Jess, obviously knowing how much she meant to the couple.

'How's she doing?' Arizona asked.

'She's stable, Jarrad's doing a good job.' Teddy replied. 'How are you feeling?'

'Oh I'm fine, the pain meds I'm on for the shot wounds are covering up the pain from today nicely.' Arizona smiled briefly before turning her attention back to the OR below her; she only wished she could be down there herself. She had every faith in Jarrad's ability as a surgeon, she just didn't like things being out of her control.

To everyone's relief Jarrad finished with ease and all the injections were completed with no more difficulties than normal. Now it was up to Jess. Her body could reject Arizona's marrow within 24 hours and if that happened, it would slowly poison her blood stream and could ultimately kill her if it wasn't all removed quickly. If this marrow was rejected then Jess would only have a couple of months to live and to find a donor in that short space of time would be virtually impossible.

Arizona and Callie headed quickly up to the Peds ward and made their way to Jess' room. She'd already been taken off the ventilator but was still on the nebuliser and looked deathly pale.

'Hey guys.' Jarrad greeted the couple, 'she's holding up, no signs of rejection yet but I'd like her to be awake by this time tomorrow otherwise...' No one wanted to finish that sentence. 'Someone will be in every half an hour or so to check on her but I take it you'll be here all night anyway?'

'Yeah I think we will, thanks Jarrad.' Arizona replied. She'd grown to like Jarrad more and more as he'd shown his softer side after the initial resistance to the whole situation.

As Jarrad left Callie shifted so that she could link her hand with Arizona's. 'You wanna settle over on the sofa?'

'Yeah it might be more comfortable than this thing,' Arizona gestured to her chair. Callie smiled and helped Arizona onto the sofa so she could lie across the length and stretch out her injuries. 'You don't want to sit on here with me?'

'I think it's best for you to be able to stretch out babe, besides, sitting here at least I can hold Jess' hand and yours.'

Arizona smiled as she let exhaustion wash over her, she wanted nothing more than to be awoken by the sounds of Jess but the fight was going to be a hard one. 'I love you Calliope.' She breathed out as she drifted off into sleep.

'I love you too babe.' Callie replied, and as she sat their holding the hands of the two women in her life that she loved and cherished the most. She'd came so close to losing Arizona and now so close to losing Jess; she vowed that when they were both better, if that happened, that she wouldn't waste any more time in making them both legally 'hers.' All she could now is pray that Jess showed the same fight that Arizona had and come back to them.

_**A/N: Reviews please folks :D**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: So thanks to everyone for the reviews of the last chapter, had a lot of new people reading the story which I really appreciate :D**_

_**Warning: Sexy times.**_

The sound of bleeping awoke Arizona from her dreams; her eyes flying open to find that she was in the room alone with Jess. She was alarmed initially when she thought something was going wrong but she smiled broadly when she realised the elevated beeping was because Jess had detached herself from her heart rate monitor. She'd done this because she was awake.

Arizona pushed herself to her feet with difficulty, ignoring the fact the pain that seared through all of her injuries, especially her hip. 'Hey sweetheart.' Arizona reached across and put all her wires back in place so that the beeping stopped and the screen showed a healthy heart rate once more.

Jess strained to speak but couldn't quite get her words out. 'It's ok Jess, you just rest.' Arizona smiled and stroked her hair. Even though she didn't have the energy to talk Jess managed to move over in the bed and patted the sheets. Arizona kicked her shoes off and eased herself onto the bed, wincing loudly but shaking it off so that Jess wouldn't worry unnecessarily. Lifting her arm around Jess, she let the girl settle in her crook as she rested her head on Arizona's chest and draped her arm over.

Arizona was so enthralled by the fact that Jess was awake and laying in her arms that she didn't notice Callie's arrival. Stood, leant up on the door frame she grinned broadly at the scene before her, not only was Jess awake and looking a little better, Arizona had moved on her own, all be it slowly. Eventually Arizona was aware that she was being watched by those eyes that she loved so much. Looking up she flashed that super-dimpled smile and reached out her hand for Callie.

Callie smiled and gladly moved forward, pulling a chair up. 'Sorry, I had to pop to the loo.'

'Don't apologise for that Cal,' Arizona smiled dearly.

'I can't believe she's awake.' Callie said smiling towards the blonde in Arizona's arms.

'I know...' Arizona didn't want to say much more, she'd seen kids show signs of recovery and then do a complete u-turn before, she didn't want the same to happen again more than ever.

'I saw Jarrad on my in and he said that child protection services are keen to get in and help Jess find a family as soon as possible...I didn't tell him about what we talked about yesterday, just in case you know, you've changed your mind...' Callie rambled as she looked off into the distance.

'Calliope...' Arizona squeezed her hand to get Callie's attention. 'I haven't changed my mind, I meant what I said yesterday, if you still want to too?'

'I really do, I can't believe how much I love her already and I only want to grow to love her more...' Callie replied.

'Well then there we go then, we'll talk to Jarrad later so he knows the situation and then we'll approach CPS about it.' Arizona's voice was filled with confidence but she was worried that something would stop them from adopting Jess; she'd dealt with CPS before and sometimes they dug their feet in.

XXX

Callie and Arizona didn't have to wait long to approach CPS as they visited the hospital that same afternoon to discuss Jess' case. Jarrad was in Jess' room with them going through her treatment plan as Jess slept soundly, still exhausted from the operation, but all signs were now good, her colour was picking up more and more each day and she was definitely starting to climb the rocky hill of recovery.

'Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Foster; CPS are here to talk to you about Jess.' Rachel, one of the peds nurses interrupted their conversation.

'Show them to my office, I'll be there in five minutes.' Jarrad didn't like this part of his job, dealing with the CPS was his least favourite part and this was a case that he really wanted to see have a happy ending.

Unknown to Jarrad, Callie and Arizona shared a look at this news; they really wanted Jarrad in the loop before he went and had this meeting.

'Jarrad, before you go, we need to tell you something.' Arizona began, when Jarrad nodded she continued, 'Calliope and me want to adopt Jess...I know it seems weird and rushed but you know I've been treating her for a long time and she's an amazing child, and we just...love her so much...'

Jarrad interrupted, 'I think that would be amazing.' He said simply smiling. 'How about you both come with me to this meeting?'

'You're serious?' Callie asked now.

'Yeah, if you want to do this then why not set the ball rolling now before the CPS give her to someone else or take her into care?'

Arizona and Callie both nodded, giving a grip to each other as they held hands before following Jarrad out of the room and to his office, asking Rachel to stay with Jess in case she woke up. Arizona was still in the wheelchair as she was still in some pain but she was able to move around a lot easier now and she knew that it wouldn't be long before her physical therapist let her start to stand and try and walk around.

As they entered Jarrad's office they saw that there was one CPS officer in there who seemed surprised to see three people walking into the room to greet her.

'Hi, I'm Dr. Foster, Jess' doctor,' he took the woman's hand.

'Hannah Jackson, nice to meet you.' She shook his hand in return and then turned expectantly to Arizona and Callie.

'This is Dr. Arizona Robbins and Dr. Callie Torres, Arizona is the Head of the department and was lead on Jess' case before the shooting happened here, and Callie is her partner and also a top orthopaedic surgeon here in the hospital.' Jarrad tried his best to get the couple off to a good start. Hannah shook both of their hands even though she remained confused at their presence. 'Callie and Arizona have been looking after Jess for the past couple of months and they wanted to talk to you about what happens next.'

'I see, you want to make sure she goes to a good home?' Hannah asked.

'Not entirely,' Arizona said. 'We want to adopt Jess ourselves.' Hannah was a little taken aback by this admission and she failed to hide that fact.

'We've been with her through her worst; we want to be there with her through her best.' Callie said simply.

Hannah smiled, 'Ok, well there's a lot of hoops you'll have to jump through, but I can set the application up today if you're sure that's what you want?'

'That would be great.' Arizona grinned broadly as she gave Callie's hand a reassuring squeeze.

'Does Jessica know about your wanting to adopt her?' Hannah asked.

'Sort of,' Callie began. 'Before she had the replacement procedure I was with her and she asked me if me and Arizona would be there when she woke up for the rest of her life, I said we'd try.'

Hannah nodded, the fact that Jessica obviously wanted to live with them would hopefully make the legal proceedings a lot easier. 'Ok, well if we sit down now and fill out the initial application forms then we can go from there.'

'Is there anything we need to do to improve our chances of getting Jess?' Arizona asked.

'I know it sounds clichéd, but just be yourself, people that try to pretend to be something else always come unstuck; be honest and you'll have a better chance.' Hannah answered honestly. 'The only thing that might hinder you is the fact that we are lead to believe that Jess does have family somewhere, if they get involved then that will make life more difficult.'

'How? We did a lot of digging when her parents were killed, there was nothing in their will and we couldn't contact anyone of relation?' Arizona asked.

'We initially came up with the same results, then we discovered that she's got an uncle in Boston that no one knew about.'

'So the courts would rather her go and live with an uncle she'd never met?' Callie spoke now, her emotion showing.

'Sometimes the court decides that that would be more appropriate yes.' Hannah said, 'But at the minute that uncle has said he wants nothing to do with them, apparently he didn't get on with his brother at all and they haven't spoken for twenty years, I'm just warning you of all the possibilities.'

'Thank you.' Arizona replied, remaining calm; she knew that you had to keep the social on side, if they fought your corner in court then you'd stand a better chance of winning.

'I'll leave the paperwork with you, take your time, fill it out and send it back to me, I'll process it and then we should be able to progress quite quickly.' Hannah handed the couple a large wad of paper as well as her card so that they had her personal contact details.

Thanking her, she left as she had other cases to see in the hospital. Before any of the three remaining doctors could say anything there was a knock at the door and Rachel came in, 'Hey guys, Jess is awake and asking for you.' She smiled as Arizona and Callie moved swiftly out of the room and into Jess'.

Jess was sat up and looking, if it was possible, brighter than when they'd left the room only half an hour previously.

'Cal! Ari!' Jess' smile lit up the room as she saw the couple enter the room.

'Sorry we weren't here Jess, we had to talk to some important people about something.' Callie apologised, very aware of the fact that she had promised Jess she would be there when she woke up.

'It ok, I was talking to nurse Rachie anyway, she has gone to find me some crayons!' Arizona couldn't help but let a tear fall down her face; she just couldn't believe how much better Jess was in such a short space of time; she had resided herself to the fact that she would reject the new marrow in her system and lose the fight. 'Why you cry Ari?' Jess asked, her voice thick with concern.

'I'm just happy that you're ok Jess.' Arizona smiled in reassurance to both the girls in the room, Callie eyeing the blonde with concern.

'Will you colour with me?' Jess asked, still eyeing Arizona suspiciously.

'Of course babe.' Arizona smiled as she moved herself closer. Callie sat on the end of the bed, loving watching the two interact with each other.

XXX

Later that day Arizona and Callie had left the hospital after Jess had gone to sleep, promising to be back the following day. Both were relieved to be going home in a way as ever since the shooting they had only been home for that one night and they needed more time to be just the two of them.

Arizona had left the hospital with crutches and although she was slow, she felt a lot better to be out of the chair. As Callie pushed the apartment door open she let Arizona go in first as she balanced the pizza they had collected on the way home on her arm.

'Drink?' Arizona asked as she hobbled into the kitchen.

'I'll get it babe.' Callie offered as she shut the door and dropped the pizza on the counter.

'It's alright I can do it.' Arizona insisted as she poured Callie a glass of red wine and a glass of juice for herself as she was still on painkillers. Callie smiled and let her get on with it as she threw her coat onto the chair and moved the pizza onto the table in front of the couch. Moving back to bring the drinks through as Arizona carefully sat onto the sofa, Callie smiled once more, loving being back in the apartment with her girlfriend.

'This looks like a complete ball ache...' Callie said as she pulled out the forms Hannah had given then earlier.

'I know, I've seen people go through it before but we'll get there babe, why not save it for after the pizza? Let's relax for a bit.' Arizona said, wanting to just spend some quality time with Callie.

'Yeah, good idea.' Callie and Arizona ate their pizza, talking about general things, catching up on the gossip from the hospital and just enjoying being back with each other. When they had finished, Callie poured another glass of wine and sat, Arizona sidling up so that she was tucked into Callie's crook, her favourite place in the entire world.

'You know I can't help but get horny when I eat pizza.' Arizona said almost matter-of-factly.

Callie, taking a sip of wine at the time, proceeded to choke and splutter which made Arizona laugh heartedly.

'Sorry, didn't mean to shock you Calliope.' Arizona chuckled.

'Just took me by surprise a bit there babe.' Callie confessed, feeling her cheeks redden slightly. 'So..um...why does pizza make you horny?' Callie asked, even though she knew the answer.

'Well it always reminds me of that night we first...you know...made love...' Arizona said, her voice dropping so that it was a sexy husk as she nibbled gently at Callie's ear. She knew that they were in serious times, with all the shooting and now Jess, but she just wanted Callie so much all the time and when they were alone with pizza that thought was just multiplied tenfold.

'Hmmmm...I'm not sure I can remember which night you're talking about...' Callie teased as she felt her arousal building.

' Oh...you know...' Arizona leaned up so that she could whisper straight into Callie's ear, 'I like the girl who has the sandwiches.'

Callie grinned broadly as she pushed Arizona's chin to the side so that she could kiss her squarely on the lips. Gently probing at first before she ghosted her tongue along the blonde's bottom lip, asking permission to enter. Arizona, feeling this, instantly granted her lover access, their tongue's entwining as they familiarised themselves with their familiar dance.

Not wanting to hurt Arizona, Callie carefully moved so that she was straddling the blonde, taking care to support her own weight. Kissing her way down Arizona's neck, Callie pulled off her own shirt and helped Arizona do the same, both spending a lot of time kissing and caressing the other's breasts, Arizona gently sinking her teeth into Callie's right breast eliciting a moan deep from within Callie's throat.

'Bedroom?' Arizona barely breathed as Callie began to run her hands up and down her jean-clad thighs.

Callie answered in her actions as she picked up the blonde easily in her arms and carried her through to the bedroom. Positioning her on the bed she laid her down before stepping back and removing her own jeans leaving her in just her underwear.

'God you're so hot Calliope.' Arizona's voice dripped with desire as she let Callie remove her jeans as well, the gentleness of her actions touching Arizona's soul. As Callie stood back, her eyes raking over every inch of the blonde's exposed flesh Arizona couldn't help but feel her arousal soar, barely a conscious movement, she began to touch herself.

Callie watched; normally she'd get frustrated that Arizona was doing her job for her, but this time it made her arousal peak to new heights. 'Are you touching yourself baby?' She asked as she slowly removed her bra and panties.

'Y-y-ess...' Arizona could barely form words, her fingers sliding easily across her wetness.

'Do you want me to touch you?' Callie wanted to touch her lover so bad, but held back wanting to draw out the enjoyment.

'Fuck-k y-yess.' Arizona said.

'Do you want me to touch you here?' Callie placed a finger ever-so-lightly on top of Arizona's dripping wet panties.

Arizona merely nodded.

'Are you sure?' Callie could barely contain herself as she lightly traced her finger down the length of Arizona's wetness.

Arizona, suddenly regaining control of herself, sat up and pulled Callie onto her, locking her eyes with those of the brunette she said, 'Fuck me Calliope.' That was all it took, Callie ripped of Arizona's panties and bra whilst kissing her hard. Instantly moving down her body she flicked her tongue across the blonde's clit, who writhed and bucked her hips in response. Dipping her tongue deep into Arizona's walls, Callie revelled in her taste, lapping up all that she could.

It wasn't long before Arizona was on the edge, 'Calliope...come...here...' Arizona panted, pulling on the brunette's locks, she wanted to look into those pools of brown and kiss her lover as she made her come hard. , 'Calliope...come...here...' Arizona panted, pulling on the brunette's locks, she wanted to look into those pools of brown and kiss her lover as she made her come hard.

Callie obliged, making her way quickly up to the blonde's mouth, biting her lip as she pushed two fingers inside of her. It didn't take long for Arizona to reach the peak of her orgasm. Callie, knowing her lover well, felt this and flicked her thumb across Arizona's clit.

'Fuck, Cal...Fuckkkkk...' Arizona came hard as her wetness reached new heights, soaking the hand of Callie that was still buried deep within her. Riding out her orgasm Callie kissed the blonde's plump lips, getting softer with each kiss, she removed her fingers and let Arizona come down from her high as Callie lay down next to her, entwining her leg in between Arizona's carefully, avoiding her sore spots.

'Fuck me Calliope.' Arizona said as she regained her breath.

'What you ready to go again?' Callie smiled into Arizona's breast.

'Ha,' Arizona laughed. 'To be honest I might just go to sleep, that exhausted me babe.'

Callie tried to hide her disappointment, 'Ah ok, I'll turn off the light.' Making to move she found herself being thrown onto her back and pinned beneath the naked blonde whose wetness was still dripping down her thighs.

'Like I could sleep after that.' Arizona whispered into Callie's ear as she began to kiss her way down the Latina's neck. Callie grinned broadly, thinking herself foolish for thinking Arizona would go to sleep without giving her her own taste of heaven; she knew the blonde loved giving as much as receiving.

Arizona moved her way down Callie's body slowly, taking her time to take in every inch of the sun-kissed skin; whilst she did she purposefully brushed her erect nipples over Callie's clit, making the brunette moan and writhe, wanting more. Arizona grinned as she heard Callie's breathing hitch and her heart rate increase, running her hands over Callie's thighs she teased Callie's opening and her clit, ghosting past it as she bit into Callie's thigh, leaving her mark.

Callie needed Arizona to touch her properly, her clit throbbing for either the tongue or finger of the blonde, pulling on the blonde's locks she groaned as Arizona dodged her to bite into her other thigh. Deciding Callie was well and truly teased and turned on, Arizona danced her tongue across her clit as she pushed two fingers inside of her tight walls. Starting slow at first, Arizona picked up her rhythm as she begin to move her tongue around Callie's clit, circling it and flicking it in between, sending her lover into spasms of ecstasy.

As before, Arizona wanted to look into Callie's eyes when she came so she continued to work her fingers inside, adding her thumb to Callie's bud as she kissed and bit her way back to the Latina's mouth. As she looked into the brown orbs of Callie it took her breath away; they were filled with lust, desire but unmistakeable and overwhelming love. This was what made their sex so amazing – the fact that every single time they were _making love_. Smiling at this thought, Arizona tipped Callie over the edge as Spanish words flowed from Callie's mouth as her orgasm ripped through her entire body.

Once finished, Arizona pulled up the blanket from the foot of the bed and placed it over them as she moved in closer to her love.

'Fucking hell you're amazing.' Callie murmured as sleep knocked heavily at her door.

'Thank you, you're not so bad yourself.' Arizona grinned as she laced her fingers with Callie's.

For a while the two lay there in silence, enjoying the sound of each other's breathing and the unmistakable smell of sex in the air.

'We never looked at those forms properly.' Callie said.

'We'll do them tomorrow, we don't have to go to the hospital until the afternoon so how about we get up, and fill them in over pancakes and coffee?'

'Sounds perfect.'

'You're perfect.' Arizona replied immediately. 'And I love you so much Calliope.

'I love you too babe.'

With that the two fell asleep almost immediately, both exhausted, not just by the sex but by the past couple of days they had had in the hospital. Neither knew what would be waiting for them around the corner, all they could know for certain was that they would face it together.

_**A/N: So what do you think? Should the long lost uncle turn up and throw a spanner into the works? Really not sure whether to bring the uncle in or not so please tell me what you would like to read about. :D**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: So, thank you again for the reviews, as the unanimous vote was for the Uncle NOT to appear I shall stick true and he shall not be appearing, hopefully it shall just be happiness and fluff from here on out. If you read my other stories you will know that I probably won't be able to update very quickly after this as I'm then back at university with exams and a 10,000 word essay on cows! Anyway, enjoy. **_

**3 weeks later. **

It had been a busy three weeks since Arizona and Callie had filled in the paperwork to adopt Jess, they'd had interviews, more forms to fill in, CPA had had to talk to Jess herself and now here they were sat in their apartment whilst they waited for their house visit to check that there living arrangements and the couple in their own environment were suitable for a five year old girl. Arizona was now hobbling around on one crutch, her shoulder also still proving painful but she was a lot more independent now and the physical therapists were very happy with the progress she was making.

Jess herself was getting stronger each day; there had been absolutely no signs of rejection and she was almost ready to leave the hospital, hence the haste of the operation.

'Arizona?' Callie came running frantically into the bedroom where Arizona had just come out of the shower.

'What's wrong?' Arizona asked, concerned at why Callie was running so frantically around. Her concern turned to laughter as the Latina came in clutching about five bottles of wine and a crate of beer.

'We need to hide these!' Callie said as she knelt down and started to try and stuff them under the bed.

'Calliope, the CPA won't hold it against us for having alcohol in the apartment!'

'With this lot they'll think we're bloody alcoholics!'

Arizona couldn't help but smile; for the last couple of days Callie had been running round the apartment like a woman possessed, having taken the week off work to make sure everything that was in order for the visit. They'd taken the spare room to pieces, even enlisting the help of Mark and Teddy, completely redecorating the room into a scene from the _Jungle Book_ after much discussion with Jess herself.

'Calliope, stop!' Arizona said forcefully as Callie began to mutter in Spanish, getting flustered. 'Just come and sit down for a second.' Callie sat next to Arizona, instantly taking her hand in her own.

'I'm sorry, we're just so close now and I don't want anything to go wrong.'

'I know babe, I know, but it'll be ok, you heard what Hannah said last time, they really like us so far so it's just this like hurdle and then we'll be on the home straight.'

'I love you, you know that right?'

'Of course Calliope, and I love you too.' Arizona smiled and kissed Callie chastely. The doorbell rang, practically sending Callie through the roof. 'Calm.' Arizona said simply as she followed Callie out into the lounge. Opening the door they saw Hannah on the other side along with two other people who introduced themselves, shaking hands with the two women.

'Can I get you a drink?' Callie asked, immediately becoming the hostess with the mostest.

'I'll have a coffee please Callie.' Hannah said as did the other two CPA workers. 'Firstly we just want to look around, have a grand tour so to speak?'

'I'll show you whilst Callie makes the drinks.' Arizona said showing willing. Showing them through the whole apartment she made a point of showing them the newly decorated room for Jess which got nods of approval and scribbles in their notebooks. As they sat down in lounge, Callie next to Arizona, they waited for what came next.

'Ok, we need to ask you a couple of questions, if that's ok?' Hannah asked, 'I know you've answered a lot already but I'm afraid it's protocol.'

'That's fine.' Arizona replied.

'Can I ask how long it will be before you're back at work Miss Robbins?' The man to Hannah's right asked.

'Um, I'm not sure at the moment, it's going to be a fairly long process, I'll probably be back at work in about a month, but then I may not be able to perform surgery for a while.'

'I see, and whilst you're at home, will you be here also Miss Torres?'

'Not all the time, I'll be at work.'

'Right, and do you think physically you would be able to look after Jessica Miss Robbins?'

Arizona was a little taken aback by his tone of voice but she had dealt with these people before and knew what they were like; 'Yes I am one hundred percent confident I would be able to take care of Jess...being a paediatric surgeon and all.' Arizona said shortly. Callie gripped her hand, a friendly warning to take it easy.

'And what will happen when you go back to work? Who will take care of Jessica then?'

'Until Christmas she will go to the day care at the hospital, then after Christmas we've made sure that she will be able to start at the local Elementary.'

'Will she be ready for school?'

'She already is. She's missed out on too much through this illness, we're not about to start holding her back more than she has to be.' Callie said.

'And will either of you always be around to take and collect her?' Arizona was getting angry at this bloke, she knew what he was getting at and wanted to floor him.

Callie spoke before Arizona could say something she would regret. 'We will make our schedules so that one of us is around as best as we can, but as you know that will not always be possible in our line of work, if an emergency call came in or we got stuck in surgery. If that happened then we would ask one of our friends to collect her.'

'A stranger?'

'No. She knows all of our friends from the hospital, she calls them Auntie and Uncle.' Arizona said, unable to remove the anger in her voice.

'I see.' His pause to scribble notes only infuriated Arizona further, Callie squeezing her hand once more; it was usually the fiery Latina that would get irate in this situation but Arizona was the crazy one in the relationship today. 'If Jess were to get ill again, what would happen?'

'The likelihood is very slim now that she hasn't rejected the replacement marrow, but if she were to then she would be taken back into hospital and the process would have to happen again.' Arizona replied.

'And would you be able to cope with that?'

'Certainly. We would be there for Jess no matter what.' Callie said, rewarded with a squeeze from Arizona.

'Is it on the agenda for you to have more children?'

Both women were left speechless for a second until Callie spoke, 'Um, that's not something we've discussed at this stage...'

'...but it's a definite possibility.' Arizona finished for her, even though she had told Callie countless times that she saw them with loads of kids now, she knew that Callie was always reluctant to say it out loud in case it freaked the blonde out.

'And if you were to have children, how would you go about it? Adoption?'

'Again, we haven't spoken about it, but I would imagine that one of us would carry the baby and we would use sperm donation.' Callie's heart swelled with love even further as Arizona spoke.

'And do you think that Jessica would feel inadequate in the family if that were to happen?'

'Absolutely not. Jess will always be a part of this family.' Callie said.

'I see you two aren't married?'

Again the two women flailed for the right answer, 'That's not to say it's not in the future.' Callie said.

'The only reason I ask is obviously if you were married there would be no question of commitment?'

'And deciding to adopt a child with someone isn't a sign of commitment?' Callie asked.

'Well, I suppose you could say that...'

'You needn't be concerned with the commitment we have for each other, I love Calliope very much, and I plan to grow old with her and our children and their children.' Arizona said, Callie shedding a tear at the image she had just created.

'Ok, that seems to be everything I had to ask today.' The man sat back in his chair, hands folded and surveyed the couple.

'So what happens now?' Callie asked.

'We will let you know within the week what our decision is.' Hannah said as the three stood to leave. 'Thank you for your time, I'll see you soon.'

Shaking all hands once more, Callie and Arizona showed the CPA out and shut the door firmly behind them.

'That man was a jackass.' Arizona said.

'I know babe, but he's just doing his job.' Callie said.

'I'm sorry I got angry there.'

'It's ok, it's important to you.' Callie smiled as she kissed Arizona firmly on her mouth. 'Also, those answers you gave towards the end, totally perfect.'

'Yeah?' Arizona smiled with her dimples.

'Absolute perfection.' Callie grinned as she carried Arizona back into the lounge where they sat for the rest of the afternoon watching television and making out like horny teenagers.

XXX

**Two days later.**

'No fair!' Callie exclaimed as Jess beat her once more at Kerplunk.

'You is not very good at Plunk Cal!' Jess grinned broadly. She was looking better than Callie and Arizona had ever seen her, she was off all drips except one and was even allowed to eat solid foods again, much to the youngsters delight.

'I know! And I'm meant to have a steady pair of hands!' Callie laughed, she was on her lunch break and had decided to spend it with Jess as Arizona was in physical therapy at the time.

Their fun was interrupted by a knock on the door, 'Hey Callie, can I have a word please?' Jarrad popped his head round.

'Sure thing, I'll be back in a sec Jess, set it up again.' On exiting the room Callie dropped her cheeriness instantly, 'What is it Jarrad? Is it Jess? Is it back?'

'Callie!' Jarrad exclaimed, laughing. 'CPA are here to see you.'

'Oh!' Callie exclaimed hoping against hope it would be the news that they so desperately wanted.

'In my office.'

'But Arizona's not here?'

'I don't think it will matter, if it does, I'll go and get her.'

'Thanks Jarrad.' Callie went into the office at speed, noticing that it was only Hannah here again. 'Hi Hannah.'

'Callie. No Arizona?'

'She's in physical therapy. Is that a problem, cause I can go and get her?'

'Oh no, it's fine, I'll need her signature but we can go down and get that.'

'Her signature?' Callie asked, confused.

'Yes Callie! You got Jess!' Hannah smiled, 'The courts awarded you and Arizona total custody.'

'Wha-wh-att?' Callie stuttered, she couldn't believe the words she was hearing. 'Ohmigod!' She didn't know what to do first, so just ended up hugging Hannah instead.

'Just need you and Arizona to sign on the dotted line and then everything is done.'

'Arizona! I need to tell her! And Jess!'

'Calm down Callie, I'll wait here!' Hannah said as the disappearing form of Callie ran from the room, she was torn between where to go first, deciding that she wanted Arizona to see Jess' face she legged it down the stairs, the elevators not coming quickly enough.

Bursting through the doors of the recovery room Callie's heart almost burst at the sight before her; Arizona, though extremely slowly, was walking with no crutch, no support, just herself. When she saw Callie stood there she almost toppled over, 'Calliope! What are you doing here?' Arizona was really surprised to see Callie at the other end of the room.

'We did it.' Callie said, 'Hannah's here, we got Jess!'

Arizona couldn't believe what she was hearing, they'd got Jess! Without even thinking about it, from somewhere deep inside of her she found the strength to almost jog into Callie's arms, kissing her with the fullest force she could muster.

'Well I think we can safely say that your thigh wound has healed well.' The physical therapist laughed and showed himself out.

'We got her?' Arizona whispered when Callie and her broke off their kiss.

'Yes we did, we just have to sign the papers.'

'Well what are we waiting for then!' Arizona began to walk out, Callie following behind, the blonde feeling not a twinge of pain.

Barging into Jarrad's office, Arizona greeted Hannah with a hug, the papers were signed and Hannah left, telling Arizona and Callie that they would get a check up every month before they gradually became non-existent in their lives.

'Can we go and see her now? Can we tell her?' Arizona was like an excited child herself.

'Babe?' Callie said quietly, signalling to Arizona that something might be wrong.

'What's up babe?' Arizona turned.

'I just...this is the start of the rest of our lives right? The beginning of such a big chapter, and...I just...well I love you and I'm so excited about this...' Callie finished, realising she probably just sounded lame.

'Oh Calliope, I'm so excited too...I never thought this would happen, I never thought I would _want_ kids...hell what...four months ago I thought I was dead Cal...I thought I would never get this, that I'd never get the happily ever after with you that I wanted so much...and now I've got more than I could ever have imagined and I love you so much.' Arizona sealed her speech with a kiss before dropping her voice, 'I'll show you just how much later on.'

Callie grinned broadly and led her Arizona out into the Paeds ward and back into Jess' room.

'Ari and Cal!' Jess beamed, kneeling up onto her bed. 'I setted up plunk Cal!'

'That's awesome kiddo, but me and Arizona need to tell you something first, ok?'

'Umm...ok?' Jess was concerned that it was going to be bad news, it usually was when someone said they needed to talk to her.

'Well...Arizona and me...we've just been told...well when you're allowed out the hospital, you're coming home with us!'

Jess looked confused for a minute, 'What, so you are my Mommies now?'

Neither Arizona or Callie could form words after that statement; Arizona just nodding her head as the tears fell down her face. 'Is that ok?'

'Yeah!' Jess stood up on her bed and made her way over to Callie and Arizona, flinging herself off of the bed, Callie catching her and hugging her with all her might. Arizona joining in too. 'Can I comes home with you nowww?'

'Um, we have to wait...'

'You can go home.' Jarrad's voice sounded from the door. All three girls whipping around. 'Normally, I'd say no but I'm sending her home with two of the best surgeons I know...one of whom I happen to know is pretty good with the kids stuff. Go, take her home, I'm sick of the sight of you.' Jarred grinned broadly as all three women engulfed him in a hug and kissing session; this was doing his reputation no good. 'Just...look after yourselves.' Jarred said as he excused himself and walked off.

'I pack, I pack!' Jess jumped down from Callie's arms and began to run around, throwing things in the air as she began to pack.

Callie looped her arm around Arizona's back, pulling her into her and kissing her head. The couple watched as their daughter, _their daughter_, packed to go home so their new lives could begin. Together.

_**A/N: After the way this chapter has gone I'm debating leaving this story here... let me know what you think...more or finito? **_


	14. Epilogue

_**A/N: So I decided to do an epilogue...sorry about the delay for this, if you read my other stories you'll know why...major uni work! Anyway it's an epilogue here and then im potentially thinking of a sequel somewhere in the future...**_

_**EPILOGUE**_

**TWO MONTHS LATER – CHRISTMAS EVE**

'Jessica Robbins Torres, if you don't get out here right now so help me I am going to...'

'I here Mama!' Even after five months, hearing Jess call her Mama was still a massive deal for Callie.

'Oh! Are you ready?'

'Yeah, I think so!'

'Right, so we're going to go and meet Mummy, go and have some dinner then you'll come back here and spend the night with Uncle Mark and Auntie Lexie ok?'

'Yeah and then when I wake up morrow you and Mummy will be backs and Santa will have been?'

'You got it kiddo! Let's go!' Callie began to usher Jess out of the apartment.

'Wait Mama! You got the supise?'

'Shit!' Callie exclaimed causing Jess to let out a high squeal knowing full well that a naughty word had just entered the conversation. 'I forgot the surprise, and if you ever repeat that word in front of Mommy it'll be no pancakes for a week!' Callie ran into the bedroom, scolding herself inwardly for swearing in front of her daughter, pulling what she needed from the back of the wardrobe she ran back out and swooped her stuff and Jess out and into her car.

The drive to the hospital was short, 'Now remember, no clues to Mommy about the surprise ok mija?'

'Sure fing Mama. I got your back.' Callie chuckled to herself, another Uncle Mark saying!

At the hospital Callie let Jess out and let her lead the way, she knew her way around the hospital better than Callie did with the amount of time she'd been a patient. Making their way straight to the paeds ward they both were practically skipping, excited to see Arizona whom had been on her first full time, full work load shift.

'Mommy!' Jess had spotted Arizona long before Callie and sped off in the direction of the blonde.

On hearing that beautiful sound Arizona instantly beamed before turning around and greeting her daughter with a huge hug as she lifted her up. 'Well hello to you too!' She said kissing her daughter before moving her slightly so she could reach to kiss her girlfriend. 'Hey babe.'

'Hey yourself.' Callie smiled, her heart forever warmed by the sight of Arizona and Jess together. 'How did the surgery go?'

'Well, as you know I was only meant to be assisting Karev do a nice simple procedure,' Arizona smiled. 'That didn't last too long, thing's started to go wrong so I had to jump in, and the hands didn't let me down!'

'Babe, that's amazing!' Callie said, although concerned, 'They feel ok now?'

'They're a little sore, but I could go and do another six hour surgery!'

'OK, well that's good, but no time for surgeries now, I promised Jess a meal out.'

'Perfect, I'll just get changed and them I'm with you.' Arizona smiled, kissed both her girls and then sped off to the attendings lounge, heelies once more in full use.

'Mama, can I have some wheel shoes?' Jess asked as she watched her Mommy.

'Maybe when you're thirty-five.' Callie said seriously as she too watched Arizona go, wincing slightly as she took a corner at full speed before disappearing out of sight.

...

The three girls chose to have dinner at Jess' favourite restaurant in town; a small Italian with a family atmosphere. Jess chatted animatedly all dinner about what Santa would bring her the following day; Arizona and Callie content to just listen and laugh, both knowing that it was miracle that all three of them had survived to see this years' Christmas Day.

After eating and paying the bill they made their way back to Callie's car to head home. 'Quiet night in then?' Arizona asked, just wanted to curl up on the sofa with her girls and watch a film. Arizona didn't miss the look that was shared between Callie and Jess at that point.

'I thought maybe we could go out tonight, you know, have a bit of time to ourselves?'

Arizona gave a confused look, 'Jess?'

'Mark and Lexie are babysitting for a couple of hours.' Callie said, biting her lip as she didn't want to give anymore away than she wanted to.

'Oh...okkk.' Arizona sensed there was more to this than she was being told but she went along with it, she knew Callie wasn't good at keeping secrets from her so she didn't want to push the matter too far although it did intrigue her.

'Mommy, stop askin.' Jess said simply as she climbed out of the car. Arizona chuckled at her daughter, raised her eyebrows at Callie and followed them into the apartment block. Mark and Lexie arrived only minutes later to take over.

'Everything sorted?' Callie murmured to Mark as he walked in.

'Yup, Teddy's just finishing it off and standing guard to make sure no one spoils the scene before you pair get there.'

'Thanks Mark.' Callie said, letting out the breath she'd been holding until she knew everything was in place.

'Anytime.' Mark smiled and made his way into the living room so as not to arouse too much suspicion from Arizona.

'Hey Mark.' Arizona greeted him, she still wasn't Mark's biggest fan, after all he had seen her girlfriend naked, but she knew how much Callie loved him as a friend and it wasn't her place to come between them.

'Alright blondie!' Mark returned the greeting before winking in her direction, a roll of the eyes the only answer he ever got to those words.

'Right, you ready Zo?' Callie asked, nervous as ever.

'Yeah, if I'm dressed right for wherever it is we are going?'

'Yup, you look hot to me.' Callie winked. 'See you later pumpkin.' She said as she hugged Jess.

'Good luck Mama.' Jess said a little too loudly as she kissed Callie on the cheek.

Arizona just raised her eyebrows at her girlfriend before hugging and kissing Jess herself, 'Be good.'

'You too Mommy.' Jess smiled and headed back into the living room to play Barbie's with Mark and Lexie.

Arizona and Callie left and to Arizona's surprise, didn't get in the car. 'We're walking?'

'Thought the fresh air would do us both some good.' Callie smiled as she laced her fingers with Arizona's before putting her other hand in her pocket to make sure her surprise was safe.

'So any clue?'

'About what?' Callie answered, a bit too brightly.

'About where we're going?' Arizona smiled at Callie's flustering.

'I told you, just a drink or something, time to ourselves.'

'Uh huh...you're a shocking liar Calliope.' Arizona chuckled. 'But I'll take my daughters' advice and quit asking.'

'Good.' Callie said, gripping her hand a bit tighter. They walked in relative silence then, both just enjoying each others' company and the cold air. They'd managed to avoid having any snow so far this year although it threatened, and there was a bitter chill to the air. Arizona let Callie lead the way, knowing that they weren't going anywhere average for her girlfriend to be so jumpy about questions.

After about fifteen minutes of walking Callie turned off of the street and began to climb a gentle hill, Arizona recognising where they were going. _Their _bench was one of their favourite places to go no matter what the weather or time of day; it was just somewhere quiet, somewhere alone. Callie pulled out her phone and gave a quick text to Teddy who replied quickly saying that everything was ready and she was out of the way, so Callie continued their walk.

Once they reached the clearing which led to their bench Arizona's eyes instantly lit up at the sight before her. Next to their bench was a little table with two champagne glasses, two bottles of champagne, a small fire of some sorts with some marshmellows waiting on the table; and on top of this there were candles creating a path to the bench which was itself surrounded with beautiful white and red candles.

'Calliope...' Arizona began.

'Shh, just...just let me do this.' She said as she led Arizona to the bench where they both sat. She was impressed with Mark and Teddy's handiwork, she'd had to enlist them, the plan would have been impossible without alerting Arizona to something; hell she'd only told Jess the night before.

Once seated Callie took a deep breath before speaking, 'Arizona...I love you...'

'I love you too.' Arizona replied instantly.

Callie smiled but gestured that she just needed to talk, 'I love you more than anything, you've literally changed my life in so many ways I can't even begin to list them all, since finding you, I've found myself too and I can't ever thank you enough for that.' Arizona went to speak but Callie stopped her, 'When we broke up it was one of the most heart-breaking things I've ever gone through, it killed me and then you got shot and I thought that was it, I thought that I'd lost the best thing that ever happened to me all because I couldn't change my dreams for her. Then you survived...I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't...and I realised that I'd been given this second chance, a second chance to love you and cherish you even more than before...and then we found Jess, I still can't believe how much I fell in love with her too, it was like everything came into place and then we nearly lost it all again and I thought we were going to lose her too. But, like you, she fought and she lived, thanks to you. You saved her life, much like you saved mine when you accosted me in the dirty bathroom, and that just makes you even more amazing to me, more breathtaking...because you could do what no one else could and save Jess. I fall in love with you more each day and I want to carry on doing that for the rest of my life...if you'll have me. So, Arizona Robbins, will you do me the greatest, most amazing honour and be my wife?' As Callie said the last sentence she knelt down on the floor in front of Arizona as she pulled out the ring from her jacket pocket. It was a silver ring, with a medium-sized diamond in the middle, not too big but big enough.

Arizona's mouth had lost all function as tears trickled down hers and Callie's face, 'Y-yes, of course I'll marry you Calliope.' She managed as Callie slipped the ring gently onto her finger. Sitting back on the bench Callie leaned forward and kissed Arizona like she never had before, gently and yet with enough passion to set the town on fire.

As they broke apart Callie popped the cork, and poured them each a glass, 'To us.' She toasted.

Arizona took a hefty gulp before she spoke again, 'How did you do all this Calliope?'

'Mark and Teddy.' She said simply, 'I've been planning it for a few weeks, I only told Jess last night when I was putting her to bed, she would've been too excited and impatient if I'd told her when I first thought about it.'

Arizona laughed, 'That's true. Calliope this is...amazing. You're amazing.'

'You're not too bad yourself fiancée of mine.' Callie smiled broadly as Arizona's dimples popped at the use of that word.

After finishing the bottles and toasting marshmellows, the couple decided to head home as the cold was becoming too much and both knowing that their little girl would be waiting up to see what happened.

True to their thoughts as soon as they opened the apartment door they were accosted immediately. 'You say yes Mommy? You say yes?'

'Of course I said yes!' Arizona exclaimed as Jess bounced into her arms and instantly began to play with the ring now on Arizona's finger.

Mark and Lexie said their congratulations before leaving, whilst Arizona sat on the sofa with Jess as they watched The Lion King, one of Jess' favourites. Callie came to join them once she had changed into something more comfortable, slipping an arm over Arizona's shoulders and placing her other on Jess' legs which came across her lap.

Arizona couldn't stop a tear from trickling down her cheek as she sat with her family securely around her, trying to hide it from Jess, but not succeeding from hiding it from Callie.

'Babe, you ok?' Callie asked, concern filling her words.

'Yeah, I'm fine!' Arizona smiled as Jess turned to see why the question was being asked.

'Why you cry Mommy?'

'They're happy tears sweetheart, Mommy's just very happy right now.' Arizona replied reassuring both pairs of eyes on her.

Callie squeezed her arm tighter around Arizona's shoulders, 'Well I think it's time for bed Jess, Santa will never come if you're up all night!'

'Owwwwwww...' Jess began to argue.

'You've got to go to sleep sweetness or Santa won't be able to come and leave you any presents!' Arizona said, lifting herself and her daughter off of the sofa.

'Oookkkkkk,' Jess succumbed as she climbed into bed and let her Mommies tuck her in. 'Night, night Mamma.'

'Night mija.' Callie said as she kissed her on the forehead.

'Night Mommy.' Jess said now, 'You like your supise?'

'I loved my surprise Jess, now shut those eyes and we'll see you in the morning.'

'Ruv you.' Jess mumbled, sleep already taking hold.

'Love you too.' Arizona said as she closed the door behind her and headed back into the living room where Callie was already waiting with wrapping equipment in hand. 'Oh I forgot we had that to finish!' Arizona said wanting to just go to bed with her fiancée.

'I know, but between the two of us it'll only take half an hour then we can go to bed and I can give you another few surprises.'

'Now that, I like the sound of.' Arizona laughed as she sat on the floor opposite Callie and picked up the first present for Jess, the Barbie doll she had been pining after for a good month.

'I never thought I'd get this.' Callie said breaking the silence.

'What do you mean?' Arizona asked.

'I never thought I'd get Christmas Eve with you and Jess...never thought I'd get us together wrapping up presents for _our_ daughter...I just...thank you!' Callie finished.

'Thank me? Thank you Calliope. Thank you for showing me that life like this...with a family is just so wonderful.' Arizona placed the half wrapped Barbie down and straddled Callie on the sofa. 'Maybe the wrapping can wait for a while?'

'I was thinking exactly the same thing.' Callie grinned broadly as they kissed.

The couple made love three times that night, wrapped presents and finally went to sleep knowing that there girl would be up way before usual. As they lay in each others' arms it wasn't possible to explain how they were feeling; each so grateful that they were all safe and healthy, both so in love, so at one with each other and both so ready for whatever the future had to hold for them and their family because no matter what life threw at them, they knew that they would always be facing it together.

THE END

_**A/N: As I said above I'm thinking about a sequel at some point but that depends on the reviews, so review pleasseee :D**_


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